Raffvorhang, Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof), 25 January 2011

This decision deals with the scope of the obligation of a plaintiff to concentrate actions in one case if these are directed against the same defendant regarding the same infringing device, but based on different patents and to what extent the plaintiff may choose to use a patent at a later stage. A later action is inadmissible by law if it concerns the same act of the defendant. The Federal Supreme Court gives further guidelines for interpretation of this statutory provision which is of great practical importance when considering the enforcement strategy.

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