The legal dispute also has an impact on the major order from the German Federal Armed Forces.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf In the bitter legal dispute between the two weapons manufacturers Heckler & Koch and CG Haenel, another chapter will be opened on Tuesday (9.15 a.m.) in front of the Düsseldorf district court. Oral proceedings in a patent dispute take place: Heckler & Koch sees its own patent infringed, Haenel, on the other hand, considers the patent in question to be null and void. It is about drilling holes in the rifle, which should enable a rapid drainage of water and a quick readiness to fire when soldiers wade through a river or land on the seashore – this is what the industry calls “over the beach”.
In a separate proceeding, Haenel has filed a so-called nullity action at the Federal Patent Court in Munich. The logic behind it: If the alleged patent has been deleted from the patent register, there can be no patent infringement. Now the Düsseldorf court is faced with the question of whether it will wait for the Munich judgment to make its own decision – then the proceedings at the regional court would be suspended and would drag on, since Munich will probably not make a decision until 2023. The other possibility is that the Düsseldorf judges are ready for their own judgment based on expert reports. That would probably not come on Tuesday, but in the next few weeks or even months.
The Suhl armory, CG Haenel, is determined to land a major order from the German Armed Forces. The company has recently suffered setbacks, but it still has certain opportunities. Should Haenel suffer a setback at the Düsseldorf Regional Court, this could have negative consequences for the Bundeswehr order.
The allegation of patent infringement is primarily about a semi-automatic rifle, but according to the plaintiff, Heckler & Koch, it is also about all similarly trained weapons – including the fully automatic system that Haenel wants to sell to the federal government.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The question of whether the patent registered by HK has now been infringed or not plays no role in the Bundeswehr award procedure, according to Haenel: The said three holes were only used until 2018 in the semi-automatic variant of the assault rifle, without the alleged patent According to company boss Olaf Sauer. When it became known, a component with only one hole was used. The fully automatic variant of the assault rifle that Haenel submitted to the Bundeswehr award procedure, however, never had three holes, the manager said before the dpa negotiation.
Heckler & Koch is headquartered in Oberndorf in the Black Forest, the company has a good 1000 employees. Assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers and pistols are manufactured. According to the company, sales in 2020 were 275 million euros, an increase of 15 percent. HK has been supplying the Bundeswehr with assault rifles and other weapons for more than six decades.
CG Haenel, on the other hand, has played a minor role in the industry so far: the rifle manufacturer from the Thuringian Forest belongs to the hunting weapons manufacturer Merkel, which in turn is part of the state armaments company Caracal from Abu Dhabi. Merkel and Haenel work closely together and have a total of around 130 employees. According to management estimates, your turnover this year will be around 21 million euros, an increase of around 20 percent.
More: The Federal Court of Justice has pointed out loopholes in the control of the export of war weapons. A new law could become a campaign issue.