Antonov loses German patent case related to hybrid cars

The Federal Patent Court in Munich has not upheld the validity of the German part of Antonov's patent (EP0414782) against Toyota. [This general area is of relevance to Toyota's Prius.]

The Sharecast article had an oblique criticism of the US patent system: “Although the board is disappointed by this decision, legal action was deemed appropriate by senior legal counsel and minimal costs were incurred under the German legal system,” said the group. Implicitly, non-minimal costs would have been incurred under a different patent legal system, such as in the U.S. Such discussion is relevant to the current proposal in U.S. patent reform for a European-style patent opposition system.