Gleiss Lutz has advised Mitsubishi Electric, a market leader for electronics and electrical engineering, on the formation of a joint venture with u-blox, the Bosch Group and Geo++. Operating under the name of SAPCORDA SERVICES GmbH, the new company will provide high-precision GNSS-based global navigation and positioning applications for the mass market.
As the four partners see it, current GNSS-aided positioning services do not yet meet the future requirements of various markets, e.g. the automotive sector and autonomous driving. Their aim, with SAPCORDA, is to create a global, low-cost offering for system integrators, OEMs and manufacturers of receivers. Positioning will be via the internet or satellite transmission in an open format, not requiring any particular hardware or software.
Mitsubishi Electric is a global leader in the market for the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment and systems. The Swiss company u-blox is known worldwide for its semiconductor components and for modules for wireless vehicular communication and positioning. As an international technology company, the Bosch Group is an IoT pioneer, offering innovative solutions for connected mobility, smart home, smart city and Industry 4.0. Geo++ is a leading supplier of GNSS software for static and kinematic applications in geodesy and navigation.
Mitsubishi Electric was represented by a Gleiss Lutz team headed by Dr. Michael Burian (partner, Stuttgart), Dr. Martin Viciano Gofferje (partner, Berlin, both lead) and Dr. Christopher Vogl (Stuttgart, all corporate/M&A), which also included the following lawyers: Anselm Christiansen (Stuttgart), Bernhard Barth (Berlin, both corporate/M&A), Dr. Stefan Weidert (partner), Dr. Alexander Molle (counsel, both Berlin, intellectual property), Dr. Stefan Mayer (partner), Thorsten Glombik (both tax, Frankfurt) and Antonia Harbusch (competition/antitrust, Düsseldorf).
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