BGH Denies Unfair Competition Claim Based on Remarks in Patent Application

摘要

The Federal Court of Justice ("BGH") has held that a reference in a patent application to the perceived disadvantages of prior art material cannot form the basis of a claim in unfair competition. (I ZR 46/2007 - Fischdosen-deckel, 10 December 2009)rnThe parties to the proceedings are manufacturers of lids for fish cans. The defendant filed a patent application for a pull-tab/tear-open lid. The application disclosed the claimant's European patent as relevant prior art and identified certain disadvantages of pull-tab lids which were manufactured according to the description in the patent.