Blood Purification Device
A medical technology company from Vienna develops a special blood purification device that is covered by an Austrian patent. A German distributor begins to supply identical devices to Austria and offer them to hospitals there. The Austrian manufacturer wants to enforce an injunction and claim damages, even though it does not use the invention itself.
Question: Who is entitled to assert claims?
Heart Support Pump
Two engineers jointly hold a patent for a new heart support pump in Germany. One of them wants to take action against a hospital that is using the pump without permission, while the other does not want to sue.
Question: Can a co-owner enforce the patent alone?
A pharmaceutical company grants a partner an exclusive license to use a patent in Austria. A competitor sells the patented drug in pharmacies without permission. The licensee is considering filing a lawsuit himself, as he is suffering considerable loss of sales as a result of the sales.
Question: Can the licensee sue independently?
A manufacturer of insulin pumps has assigned its claims for damages arising from patent infringements to a bank in order to repay outstanding loans. Now the bank wants to take action against several dealers who have sold the devices without a license in Austria.
Question: What claims can the bank assert?
A company distributes a patent-protected ventilator without a license. The distribution is carried out by an employee, while the managing director is not only informed, but also places further orders.
Question: Who is liable for the infringement in this case?
A hospital employee procures patent-infringing hip implants in Czechia on his own initiative, brings them to the hospital warehouse, and then sells them privately to third parties. The hospital knows nothing about this and does not benefit from it.
Question: Is the hospital liable or only the employee?
A manufacturer produces patent-infringing blood filters, a dealer sells them to a clinic, which then uses them in operations. All three work together in succession.
Question: Who is the patent infringer and how are they liable?
A distributor imports patent-infringing infusion pumps into Austria, and a clinic then uses them in everyday treatment. The patent holder demands full compensation from the distributor.
Question: Does the distributor have to bear the entire damage?
A company manufactures complete cochlear implants that embody all the features of a patent. A supplier who is familiar with the design of the cochlear implants and has been involved in their manufacture supplies special components that are exclusively suitable for these implants, while another supplier merely contributes commercially available silicone cables.
Question: Who is directly liable, who is indirectly liable, and who is not liable at all?
A distributor imports blood pressure monitors that infringe a patent from Czechia to Austria and sells them to several medical practices. The devices were previously produced legally there.
Question: Is this a case of patent infringement?
A distributor advertises a new type of heart clip in an online catalog that has all the features of an Austrian patent. It has not yet been delivered at this point, but the offer is publicly available.
Question: Is this already a patent infringement?
A hospital in Salzburg uses an implant in operations that was imported without the permission of a patent holder from Germany. It uses this implant regularly for its treatments.
Question: Is the hospital committing patent infringement by using the implant?
Surgical Tools
A wholesaler is caught at the border bringing patent-infringing surgical tools from Hungary to Austria. They have not yet been sold, but are intended for distribution.
Question: Is there already a patent infringement due to the import?
Patent-infringing Infusion Devices
Patent-infringing infusion devices are discovered in a dealer's warehouse. He has not yet sold them, but it is clear that they are intended for future deliveries to clinics.
Question: Does mere possession constitute patent infringement in this case?
A manufacturer produces patent-protected syringes exclusively in a third country where no corresponding patent has been granted. A patent exists only in Austria.
Question: Does manufacturing abroad constitute patent infringement?
A foreign manufacturer sells patent-infringing implants to an Austrian distributor, knowing full well that the latter intends to sell the products in Austria. The importer places the goods on the market in Austria.
Question: Can the foreign manufacturer be held liable?
A patient receives a patent-infringing implant that was inserted by his hospital. He then uses the implant purely for private purposes, without exploiting it commercially in any way.
Question: Can the patient be prosecuted for patent infringement?
A company develops an implant that is subject to an Austrian patent. After 20 years, the patent expires in 2025. However, a distributor had already sold identical implants without a license in Austria in 2024.
Question: Can claims still be asserted for the sales made in 2024?
A patent on a new catheter design is declared invalid in 2025. However, a distributor had already marketed catheters in Austria in 2024 that incorporated all of the features.
Question: Can the patent holder still take action against these sales?