Gillette, a company of the Procter & Gamble Group, was able to successfully enforce its patent rights with Gleiss Lutz’s help against Wilkinson Sword GmbH, Edgewell Personal Care Company and others in summary proceedings before the Düsseldorf District Court.
By means of the preliminary injunction, the Court prohibited Wilkinson / Edgewell from selling replacement razor blades for Gillette’s popular “Mach3”. The Düsseldorf District Court confirmed Gillette’s view that the blades in question infringe one of its patents, which protects an improved connection between the razor’s handle and blade unit. The Court rejected the argument put forward by Wilkinson / Edgewell that there is doubt as to the validity of the patent. The decision is noteworthy since German district courts are generally reluctant to grant preliminary injunctions in patent matters, if – as is the case here – a decision confirming the validity of the patent has not previously been rendered in adversarial proceedings (e.g., by the Federal Patent Court). The judgment is subject to appeal.
Gleiss Lutz regularly advises Procter & Gamble on patent-related matters.
Dr. Matthias Sonntag (partner, intellectual property), led the following Gleiss Lutz team: Dr. Benedikt Burger and Mischa Krumm (both intellectual property, Düsseldorf) as well as Dr. Martin Raible (partner) and Anne Katharina Verheyen (both competition/antitrust, Düsseldorf).
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