Higher Regional Court Munich – “patent pending” and misleading advertisement

On June 1, 2017, the Higher Regional Court Munich (6 U 3973/16) has decided that the indication “patent pending” is understood by a relevant part of the consumers to say that the respective product is protected by a granted patent. If this is not the case because there is only a patent application in place, the indication “patent pending” is misleading and not admissible under Unfair Competition Act standards.

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