Patent dispute over new Bundeswehr assault rifle could last years - C.G. Haenel is part of weapons conglomerate of the UAE - German government extended ban on arms exports to the UAE and Saudi Arabia

Berlin / Düsseldorf, Dec. 14, 2020 - The dispute over the German Armed Forces' new assault rifle and the allegedly infringed patents between weapons manufacturers C.G. Haenel in Thuringia and Heckler & Koch in Oberndorf is expected to drag on for some time. According to information from Meister Mandeltree Kommunikation, the first days of the trial will be announced on Jan. 11, 2021, by the presiding judge of the chamber of the Düsseldorf Regional Court. Currently, the lawyers are still exchanging pleadings. In the summer of 2021, things should really get going and the negotiations should begin. If one of the parties moves to the next instance, the dispute could possibly last for years. (Ref. LG Düsseldorf 4AO 68/20)

Following a call for bids for a new assault rifle for the German Armed Forces, the previous regular supplier Heckler & Koch lost out to the much smaller weapons manufacturer C.G. Haenel from Thuringia. Heckler & Koch had successfully applied for a review of the decision, citing patent infringements. For both sides, it is not only the order volume of around 250 million euros that is at stake, but also a massive gain in prestige.

According the Middle East Experts the United Arab Emirates is no longer content to limit itself to purchasing armaments. The UAE is increasingly manufacturing weapons itself through its state-owned company EDGE. The company now ranks 22nd on SIPRI's list of largest arms sellers.

C.G. Haenel is part of the EDGE Group of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an association of various defense companies that has meanwhile made the SIPRI list of the world's 30 largest arms manufacturers. The development of its own arms industry coincides with the Gulf Arabs' efforts to become the region's new regulatory power by means of a "militarized foreign policy." This aggressive development is viewed with great concern by Middle East experts and peace researchers and has culminated in an prolonged export ban on weapons from Germany to Saudi Arabia and the VAE. The export ban was originally directed against all countries directly involved in the Yemen war. However, the export ban was only really enforced when the Saudis had the critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi killed and dismembered in the Saudi Arabian Consulate General in Istanbul. This heinous act turned even the most hardened armament politicians against the Arabs.

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