Frankfurt am Main Regional Court: Atty. Dr. Seyfert successfully enforces substantial claims for a mechanical engineering company (Case No. 2-01 O 177/16)

After an extensive “battle” before the Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main with several hearings of evidence, Dr. Seyfert concluded a settlement for his client after almost three years of proceedings, which is largely equivalent to a complete win in this case. The settlement saves our client from having to fight out its claims in the second instance. The money claims in favor of our client provided for in the settlement are due for payment immediately.

Our client, the plaintiff GmbH, manufactures complex switchgear for medical devices that are used in hospitals worldwide. The plaintiff manufactured several such switches for the defendant’s medical devices. The defendant did not want to accept the switches because they were allegedly defective. According to the evidence, this was not the case. On the contrary, the evidence showed that the defendant’s medical devices were not yet fully developed and were themselves still significantly defective. Under the terms of the trial settlement, the defendant must now accept and pay for the switchgear devices.

We briefly note that the plaintiff never patented its switching devices, but has kept the exact operation of these switching devices a trade secret for over 25 years. This was a wise decision, because patent protection would end after 20 years at the latest and the invention described in the patent would then be available for free use by anyone.