Dr. Henrik Holzapfel
Subscribe to Dr. Henrik Holzapfel's PostsDr. Henrik Holzapfel advises on all aspects of intellectual property law. He focuses on litigating patents, including the enforcement of patents essential to industry standards and FRAND defenses. Henrik also has extensive experience in litigating trade secret matters. Other areas of his practice include advising on IP licensing agreements, including advice on European competition law, drafting R&D agreements and advising on employees’ inventions. Henrik’s clients represent a wide variety of industries such as IT, pharmaceutical, biotech, medical devices, chemicals, automotive and engineering. Read Dr. Henrik Holzapfel's full bio.
Only One More Ratification Needed: European UPC Might Be Ready to Launch
By Dr. Henrik Holzapfel on Oct 7, 2021
Posted In EU Update, Patents
The German parliament recently passed the Approval Act (the Act) regarding the planned European Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the protocol on a UPC on provisional application (PPA). The Act was passed after Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court rejected applications for a preliminary injunction directed against the Act. The instrument of Germany’s ratification of the PPA...
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Unified at Last? Germany’s Constitutional Court Removes UPC Hurdle
By Dr. Henrik Holzapfel and Dr. Maximilian Kiemle, LLM on Jul 22, 2021
Posted In EU Update, Patents
On July 9, 2021, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court rejected a pair of applications for a preliminary injunction directed against the German Approval Act on the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC) (decision of June 23, 2021, 2 BvR 2216/20). Thus, German ratification of the Agreement now only requires a presidential signature of the Approval...
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Freeze Frame: EU Copyright Holders Entitled to Restrict Framing
By Dr. Henrik Holzapfel on Mar 24, 2021
Posted In Copyrights
In a case referred by German authorities, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) resolved a dispute between a visual arts copyright collecting society and a cultural heritage foundation involving a digital library that includes images and links to the institution providing the subject matter. The CJEU affirmed that the principle of the...
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Increasing Transparency and Reducing Transaction Costs in 5G SEP Licensing
By Dr. Henrik Holzapfel on Feb 22, 2021
Posted In Technology
The advent of 5G promises a new era of speed, throughput and bandwidth for cellular networks, however the world of telecommunications and licensing faces several challenges in preparation for its arrival. Although wireless technology has continued to evolve over the years, traditional SEP licensing models have seemingly been left behind and may no longer be...
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2020 IP Law Year in Review: European Issues
By Dr. Henrik Holzapfel, Laura Morelli and Charles de Raignac on Jan 26, 2021
Posted In Copyrights, EU Update, Patents, Trademarks
Executive Summary From a German perspective, 2020 saw highly interesting developments that may well have an impact even beyond the borders of Germany. For example, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) in Sisvel v. Haier handed down a landmark decision on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) law. This decision has already affected many FRAND cases...
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CJEU Referral on Preliminary Injunctions by the Munich I District Court
By Dr. Henrik Holzapfel on Jan 21, 2021
Posted In Patents
The 21st Civil Chamber of the Munich I District Court has referred a question on the availability of preliminary injunctions against patent infringements to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg (Munich I District Court docket no. 21 O 16782/20, decision of 19 January 2021). Key takeaways The Munich I District...
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German Competition Authority Files Amicus Brief in SEP Litigation
By Dr. Henrik Holzapfel on Jul 1, 2020
Posted In Patents
In 2019, Nokia filed a series of patent infringement complaints against Daimler before several German courts. Nokia alleged that connected cars made by Daimler infringed Nokia’s patents. Nokia considered the relevant patents as essential for certain wireless communication standards. Nokia v. Daimler, Case No. 2 O 34/19 (Mannheim District Court). On 18 June 2020, the...
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Landmark Decision in German FRAND Case
By Dr. Henrik Holzapfel on May 11, 2020
Posted In EU Update
On May 5, 2020, an oral hearing in Germany’s most recent landmark case on standard-essential patents (SEPs) and fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing (Sisvel v. Haier, docket no. KZR 36/17) took place before the German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ).
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2019 IP Law Year in Review: European Issues
By Dr. Philip Uecker, Laura Morelli, Dr. Henrik Holzapfel, Charles de Raignac and Paul Devinsky on Feb 13, 2020
Posted In Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks
Executive Summary The last year of the 2010s has been prolific in terms of important new pieces of legislation and case law within the European Union, and in France and Germany in particular. Indeed, the European Parliament and the EU Council adopted in April 17, 2019, a controversial directive (Directive 2019/790 on copyright and related...
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Draft Amendment to German Patent Act May Limit Availability of Injunctions
By Dr. Henrik Holzapfel on Feb 6, 2020
Posted In Patents
On 14 January 2020, the German Federal Ministry of Justice published a draft act to modernize German patent law. Among other things, the draft addresses the fact that patent infringement trials proceed much quicker than parallel invalidity proceeding (which, under German law, are conducted separately). Hence, an injunction may be issued in first instance infringement...
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