Patent Fraud in Baden-Württemberg

In an economically strong region such as the Stuttgart area, the value of intellectual property and the importance of complying with licenses and patents cannot be overstated. Any invention can only remain profitable and of great importance to the original company as long as it is not illegally copied and introduced to the market at a lower price. However, due in particular to the global networking of all business levels and companies, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep innovations confidential until the product is ready for production and distribution.

Once a patent has been filed, the innovation belongs to the applicant for a certain period of time (in Germany up to a maximum of 20 years), during which any company or private individual wishing to benefit from the invention must pay licensing fees to the patent holder for its use. All too often, however, illegal product imitations appear on the market which, due to their often much lower production costs, can be offered more cheaply, but which endanger users due to poor functionality, inadequate workmanship, and inferior materials, thereby potentially casting an undeserved negative light on the original developer. Our detective agency in Stuttgart operates year-round to prevent the spread of counterfeits and to apprehend patent fraudsters: +49 711 7153 011-0.

Patent Fraudsters | "Patent Trolls"

The term patent trolls refers to individuals who had no involvement whatsoever in the development of innovations but register these inventions as patents before the actual developers in order to collect licensing fees for any third-party use. This is particularly frustrating when this type of patent theft occurs in open-source developments, meaning innovations that the inventors originally made freely available for public use: apps or other forms of software that were intended to be free for everyone are thereby converted into paid services by a third party, from which only the patent applicant benefits, not the original developers.

However, not only IT developments are affected by this type of patent fraud; espionage activities are also a serious issue in many other innovation-driven industries: employees are planted in competing companies in order to pass on plans or formulas of innovations to third parties before they are finalized and patented, enabling those third parties to file a patent without having been involved in the development. Especially in the corporate sector, this can involve several million euros obtained through espionage and can severely harm the original company. In such cases, our detectives in Stuttgart are frequently engaged to prove industrial or corporate espionage, whether through the infiltration of employees or by monitoring individual work processes and user accounts in the workplace.

Bayer Espionage Scandal: Illegal Methods Quickly Backfire on Investigators and Clients

When investigating suspected patent fraud and/or industrial espionage, it is essential to focus exclusively on legal methods available to our detective agency in Stuttgart under German law. A negative example: in 1999, the Bayer Group was suspected of having spied on competing pharmaceutical companies over several months using illegal means, which Bayer denied. However, documents belonging to two British detectives included lists of targeted companies – including 24 German firms – as well as sworn statements, activity reports, invoices, and other materials suggesting they had been commissioned by the pharmaceutical group. The two investigators committed burglary and were apprehended, bringing the affair to light.

Professional detective agencies such as our detective office in Stuttgart place the utmost importance on conducting investigations in full compliance with the law, not least because illegally obtained evidence is inadmissible in court and therefore useless for legal proceedings. If you suspect patent fraud, contact our investigators in the greater Stuttgart area directly and receive a no-obligation consultation on the legally permissible investigative options.

A Different Kind of Patent Fraud: Fake Payment Requests in Circulation

In addition to the patent fraud cases described above, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) warns of fraudulent letters that have been circulated for some time by private companies offering recipients fee-based registrations in unofficial registers or patent renewals at the DPMA. These companies often use names that suggest a close connection to the DPMA (for example DEPMA, Deutsche Patentverwaltung, DMP-Agentur, DMVG Deutsche Markenverwaltung GmbH, etc.) in order to create an appearance of legitimacy. If you receive such a letter, you should not only carefully check the listed data for plausibility but also confirm with the DPMA whether the payment request actually originates from them.

While the patent office is responsible for protecting not only the many tens of thousands of patents held by major companies such as Bosch, Siemens, Daimler, but also those of medium-sized businesses, individual inventors, and small start-up companies, fraudulent third-party companies – often based in Eastern Europe – exploit this system as a lucrative way to extract money from unsuspecting patent holders. These letters are often so professionally designed and formatted that only an expert can detect the deception; in particular, the frequent threats that a trademark or patent will expire if payment is not received create panic among recipients. If payments have already been made, our private detectives in Stuttgart will assist you in recovering the funds or in identifying the locations of the companies or commercial fraudsters, taking action against them on site, and collecting court-admissible evidence.

Detective Team Stuttgart: Fast and Discreet Assistance

If you are on the trail of patent fraud affecting one or more licenses of your company, or if you merely suspect it and require professional assistance in obtaining court-admissible evidence, our corporate investigators in Stuttgart are available around the clock. In addition to investigations concerning individual employees, it is also possible to deploy undercover investigators within your company, conduct surveillance, and, if necessary, examine external email communications or other forms of improper PC use in the workplace. Even if you have fallen victim to a fraudulent patent company, our detective agency in Stuttgart will handle the further course of action in your specific case to help you recover transferred funds. You can reach us by phone during our business hours Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 19:00 or at any time via email at info@aaden-detektive-stuttgart.de.