Back in 2015, then Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced that the Bundeswehr would be equipped with new assault rifles. The procurement process is still ongoing today.

It is known that 120,000 assault rifles will be ordered. Traditionally, the Bundeswehr is equipped by Heckler & Koch AG, based in Oberndorf am Neckar. With 1020 employees and annual sales of about 240 million euros (in 2019), Heckler & Koch is one of the largest rifle and pistol manufacturers in the world. However, unexpectedly, the Bundeswehr order was initially to go instead to C.G.Haenel GmbH, which is much smaller with around 130 employees and annual sales of around 10 million euros.

A fierce battle has broken out between the companies for the Bundeswehr contract. Most recently, things tended to look worse for Haenel, especially since the Düsseldorf Regional Court found that the assault rifle marketed by Haenel infringed a patent held by Heckler & Koch. A recall claim and a destruction claim were affirmed.

In order to obtain the order after all, Haenel is appealing against the ruling before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, which is due to rule in March. In addition, an action for nullity is planned before the Federal Patent Court in Munich to potentially remove the basis for the patent infringement.

From a technical point of view, the patent relates in particular to small openings in the assault rifle through which water can drain off quickly to enable rapid firing after surfacing when deployed in water.

Since the Bundeswehr order is apparently worth around 400 million euros, the legal dispute is likely to go all the way to the last instance.