As reported by Waldemar Geiger in Soldat & Technik, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court dismissed the lawsuit brought by C.G. Haenel, confirming that the Bundeswehr’s final selection decision in favor of Heckler & Koch’s HK416 A8 was legitimate. This emerges from the verdict of the court.
The reason for the decision was probably the court’s view that the exclusion of C.G. Haenel was lawful due to patent infringement by Heckler & Koch, Waldemar Geiger reports. “The respondent [Federal Ministry of Defence] has the applicant [C.G. Haenel] rightly excluded due to serious professional misconduct in the form of an alleged patent infringement. Through the expert opinions it obtained, the respondent has proven an infringement of European patent EP 2 018 508 B 1, the owner of which is the summoned party [Heckler & Koch], by the MK 556 assault rifle offered by the applicant,” says a press release of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.
The Bundeswehr intends to replace its current G36 assault rifle and launched a competition for around 120,000 new assault rifles in 2017. Ultimately, the HK416 A8 from Heckler & Koch emerged as the winner of the comparison competition. Since the supplier C.G. Haenel has taken legal action, the current award process was suspended.
With today’s announcement of the decision by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, the procurement project can now be continued.