Nassreinigung II/Wet Cleaning II, Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof), 26 March 2009

The Federal Court of Justice held that a licensee's failure to exploit an exclusive patent license can justify termination of the license agreement by the licensor, even if there is no breach of contract or default by the licensee. From an objective licensor's perspective, however, there must be no prospect of an improvement in the situation in the near future, particularly if further circumstances are given that serve to undermine the licensor's confidence in his contract partner.

The full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law.