German Federal Supreme Court decides on statute of limitations in employed inventors matters

In a decision of November 26, 2013 (X ZR 3/13) the German Federal Supreme Court had to decide about the statute of limitation regarding claims raised by an employed inventor. According to the German Employees Inventor Act the inventor and the employer have the option to contact an arbitration body established at the German Patent and Trademark Office before bringing suit. The German Federal Supreme Court now has decided that approaching this arbitration body leads to suspension of the period of limitation which is applicable regarding the claims of an employed inventor at issue.