The weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch goes to court

Against the background of a major order from the Bundeswehr for 120,000 assault rifles, the weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch takes to court. A "negative declaratory action" against the US company Magpul was filed with the Düsseldorf regional court, said HK boss Jens Bodo Koch. The court should clarify that the Black Forest gunsmith has not infringed any patent on the magazine used for a new assault rifle. The supplier Magpul makes magazines, handles, mounts and visors. This is a response to Magpul's allegation that the HK416 assault rifle submitted for the major contract infringed a US company's patent on a magazine design. "We have developed our own magazine that does not infringe any patent in any way," said Koch. A spokeswoman for the Düsseldorf Regional Court confirmed the lawsuit. The US company did not respond to inquiries. With the lawsuit, Heckler & Koch wants to have the court confirm, as it were, that everything was right during the development of the magazine. The lawsuit is another chapter in the legal dispute surrounding the prestigious major Bundeswehr order. The contract was supposed to be awarded years ago, but there were delays. Last autumn, the Federal Ministry of Defense surprisingly decided in favor of the small Thuringian arms company C.G. Haenel. The initially unsuccessful Bundeswehr house supplier Heckler & Koch appealed and was successful: The Ministry excluded Haenel from the award process due to patent infringements and announced that it wanted to award the contract to Heckler & Koch. Haenel lodged a complaint against this, and a corresponding procedure is currently underway before the Federal Procurement Chamber at the Federal Cartel Office. With Magpul, in turn, another company has now appeared in the legal skirmish. As HK boss Koch reports, his company received an information letter from Magpul in which the US company wanted to inquire about possible patent infringements. HK then had a lawyer prepare a patent report from which it emerged that HK-Magazin did not infringe any patents.