Marathon Patent Group (NASDAQ: MARA) announced that on July 1, 2015, in the patent infringement action filed by its wholly-owned subsidiary MedTech Development Deutschland GmbH involving the patent EP 1 104 260 B2 (the ‘260 patent) the Munich District Court of Germany expressed in the oral hearing that its preliminary indication was that defendants Joline GmbH & Co. KG, Signus Medizintechnik GmbH, and Pan Medical, practice the ‘260 patent.
The ‘260 patent had previously been accused of invalidity by Stryker GmbH & Co. KG, Docket No. 4 Ni 4/14 (EP). In a nullity hearing held June 19, 2015, the five-judge panel at the Federal Patent Court, after carefully considering all facts and arguments brought by Stryker, deliberated and returned with the unrestricted verdict that “All claims are valid.” The Federal Patent Court’s decision is subject to potential appeal.
The Court subsequently dismissed the infringement action for lack of sufficient evidence to prove the chain of title. The Company is securing the necessary documents to substantiate the chain of title and upon successful completion, will use all legal means available to enforce its valid patents.
On July 21, 2015, the Federal Patent Court will hear oral arguments on the validity of EP 1 938 765 B1.
On October 29, 2015, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf will hold an Oral Hearing regarding Stryker’s appeal of the infringement rulings against it for both the ‘260 and ‘765 patents.
On December 12, 2015, the Higher Regional Court of Munich will hold an Oral Hearing regarding Ulrich’s appeal of the ruling rejecting Ulrich’s request that MedTech Development Deutschland GmbH should pay a bond prior to litigating the ‘260 patent before the Munich Court.
At the hearing for the Italian lawsuit commenced by Pan Medical Ltd. against Orthophoenix and MedTech the parties discussed the connection between the Italian proceedings and the German lawsuit as well as the legal status of the patents involved, EP1104260 and EP 1938765. In particular, Pan Medical joined the claim proposed by Orthophoenix and MedTech of discontinuance of the matter in issue with reference to patent EP1104260. The judge authorized the submission of three subsequent defensive briefs to allow the parties to specify their claims, file pertinent documentation and indicate the evidence relevant to their case. The next hearing before the Italian judge is scheduled for November 4, 2015.