Orange-Book-Standard Explained

Orange-Book-Standard (Az. KZR 39/06) is a decision issued on May 6, 2009 by the Federal Court of Justice of Germany (German: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) on the interaction between patent law and technical standards, and more generally between intellectual property law and competition law. The Court held that a defendant, accused of patent infringement and who was not able to obtain a license from the patentee, may defend himself, under certain conditions, by invoking an abuse of a dominant market position.^[1]

The name "Orange-Book-Standard" comes from the Orange Book that contained the format specifications for CD-Rs, the technology at issue in the case that led to the Orange-Book-Standard decision.^[2]

See also

• Essential patent
• European Union competition law
• Rainbow Books, the collection of standards defining the formats of Compact Discs, including the Orange Book standard
• Reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing (RAND)

External links

• Decision (case number: "KZR 39/06") (a translation is available here)

Further reading:

• Stephan Dorn, Green-Orange-Red, the German Orange-Book decision is putting industry on alert, IPEG, September 14, 2009.

Notes and References

1. [Joseph Straus]
2. Mark Schweizer, "Dutch see Orange Book differently; Philips prevails again", IPKat, March 18, 2010.