German Customs Agents Raid Another Trade Show

JagsLive tips the news that German customs agents have shown up in force to raid the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. (The last time we discussed news like this was during CeBIT, in Hanover, last March.) 220 customs agents seized electronic gear from 69 different booths at IFA. The Register reports that this raid, like the one last spring, was touched off after complaints by patent firm Sisvel. "They seized equipment which will now be checked for evidence of patent breaches. A spokesman for German Customs told us: 'We've raided 69 companies today. We have seized equipment including flat-screen TVs, CD players, set-top boxes and MP3 players.'"

Comments

Pfft.

[gregbot9000]

Patent laws are like landfills, every country has them, and they all stink.

Re:Pfft.

[Macrat]

I would be hard pressed to find anything bad about this.

Nothing wrong with employees working booths at trade shows being terrorized by armed thugs?

What about if they're found innocent?

[Firethorn]

Will Sisvel be held responsible if their claims are found groundless?

From the listing of devices seized, they must be spreading their patent claims pretty wide.

Either that or it has something to do in common with all those devices - maybe remote control?

Way to go!

[TheRealMindChild]

Regardless if the claims hold merit, there is only one direction the shit will flow. People will quit reserving booths for these shows. Manufacturers will go outside of Germany. Then... what are you left with? Nothing being made in Germany, and no one wanting to exhibit their wares there either.