“Patent Lawyer Magazine” with contribution by Dr S. Schohe and Dr M. Rüberg.

BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT partners Dr Stefan Schohe and Dr Michael Rüberg have contributed the article “Foreign companies beware – German courts are closing safe harbors abroad” to Patent Lawyer Magazine (June 2015, p. 47 et seq) In the article, patent lawyer Dr Schohe and solicitor Dr Rüberg explain the “Audio Signal Coding” decision of the Federal Supreme Court (official reference X ZR 69/13), which holds that there can be a patent infringement as a result of actions taken abroad. The authors identify a trend in German case law to make foreign firms which use domestic distribution partners responsible for patent infringements in Germany from the point of view of participation in a domestic patent infringement. As a result, this means that firms which operate exclusively outside Germany can be made liable for patent infringements in Germany both for direct as well as for indirect patent infringement. Correspondingly, the authors conclude, foreign firms must increasingly look into legal protection in Germany, even in cases where the articles they supply are not patent protected but merely represent a means which can be used in connection with patent infringement in Germany. The entire article can be read here.