Patent infringement proceedings: GvW successfully defends Chinese dental manufacturer before the Regional Court of Düsseldorf
The Düsseldorf Regional Court has dismissed in its entirety the action brought by Ivoclar Vivadent AG against Shanghai Huliang Bio-Tech Co., Ltd., represented by the law firm GvW Graf von Westphalen (Ref. 4a O 11/25). The court ruled that the dental blanks distributed by Huliang Bio-Tech do not infringe any Ivoclar patents.
Ivoclar had claimed that the Chinese manufacturer's products infringed two European patents for the manufacture of dental prostheses. The background to the legal dispute was action taken by the company against competitors at the IDS 2025 dental trade fair in Cologne. Among other things, Ivoclar had products seized and issued warnings. Huliang Bio-Tech contested the allegations and defended itself in the subsequent main proceedings before the Düsseldorf Regional Court.
The judges of the 4a Civil Chamber agreed with the defendant's argument. In the court's opinion, Ivoclar was unable to prove that the products on display or the blanks offered in the online shop incorporated the patent-protected technical features. The lawsuit was therefore dismissed. Huliang Bio-Tech may therefore continue to sell its products in Germany. The decision is not yet final.
GvW successfully represented Huliang Bio-Tech in the patent infringement proceedings through partner Nicolas Dumont and senior associate Jonas Wehleit. The GvW team was supported by patent attorney Matthias Rathert (Olbricht Buchhold Keulertz).
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