Patent rights
Borken/Kreis (pet). The “Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau” (~ Association of German Machine and Plant Construction) warned against increasing plagiarism. Especially China massively infringes patent rights.
Plagiarism – is this a problem for domestic companies as well? At least the experts on weaving machine technique and automation Klöcker Bros. deal with this subject permanently. The company with its main seat in Borken holds about 160 patents.
“There certainly are infringements. Yet by far not only in China, but also in Germany and Europe”, the managing director Dr. Christoph Schwemmlein underlines. “The problem is the lack of ethical consciousness”, he adds. Since many years, Klöcker Bros. closely cooperate with patent attorneys to get wise to infringements. The danger of idea-snitching, however, does not hinder Schwemmlein. The internal R&D department is continuously asked to check whether a technical improvement is patentable. In order to avoid promising ideas falling into the wrong hands, both emailing and faxing are reduced down to a minimum.
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Source: Daily newspaper “Borkener Zeitung”, January 7th, 2008