Patent dispute with US supplier: Heckler & Koch takes to court


Patent dispute with US supplier
Heckler & Koch goes to court

Heckler & Koch has been supplying the German Armed Forces with assault rifles for more than six decades. In the struggle for a new major order, a US supplier recently spoke up with allegations. Heckler & Koch now wants to clear this out of the world by legal means.

Against the background of a major order from the Bundeswehr for 120,000 assault rifles, the weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch takes to court. HK boss Jens Bodo Koch said they had filed a “negative declaratory action” against the US company Magpul at the Düsseldorf regional court. The court should clarify that the Black Forest gunsmith has not infringed any patent on the magazine used for a new assault rifle. The supplier Magpul makes magazines, handles, mounts and visors.

This is a response to Magpul’s allegation that the HK416 assault rifle submitted for the major contract infringed a US company’s patent on a magazine design. “We have developed our own magazine that does not infringe any patent in any way,” said Koch. A spokeswoman for the Düsseldorf Regional Court confirmed the lawsuit. The US company did not respond to inquiries.

With the lawsuit, Heckler & Koch wants to have the court confirm, as it were, that everything was right during the development of the magazine. The lawsuit is another chapter in the legal dispute surrounding the prestigious major Bundeswehr order. The contract was supposed to be awarded years ago, but there were delays. Last autumn, the Federal Ministry of Defense surprisingly decided in favor of the small Thuringian arms company CG Haenel.

The initially unsuccessful Bundeswehr house supplier Heckler & Koch appealed and was successful: The Ministry excluded Haenel from the award process due to patent infringements and announced that it wanted to award the contract to Heckler & Koch. Haenel lodged a complaint against this, and a corresponding procedure is currently underway before the Federal Procurement Chamber at the Federal Cartel Office. With Magpul, in turn, another company has now appeared in the legal skirmish. As HK boss Koch reports, his company received an information letter from Magpul in which the US company wanted to inquire about possible patent infringements. HK then had a lawyer prepare a patent report from which it emerged that HK-Magazin did not infringe any patents.

Ministry of Defense commissions expert opinion

The Federal Ministry of Defense also acted because of the matter: As was heard from informed circles, the Ministry commissioned an expert opinion because of Magpul. The result of the expert opinion was that HK had not infringed any patent. This report is in the secret protection office of the Bundestag. HK boss Koch is still convinced that the order for 120,000 assault rifles will be awarded: “We know that we have made the best technical and economic offer. The Bundeswehr’s decision in favor of HK is therefore very well founded.”

It is still open whether and when the final green light will come from Berlin and HK can plan the order firmly. It is almost certain that nothing more will happen in this regard before the general election – HK could not be awarded the contract until the end of this year at the earliest. The procurement process may be canceled and the issue of re-armament postponed to the future. The federal government is planning a maximum of 245 million euros for the major order. The last offer from HK should be less than 200 million euros. In addition to monetary aspects, the deal is important for the image: with the Bundeswehr as a major customer, HK generally has good cards in advertising for other NATO armies.

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