The two arms companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann are fighting over the copyright of the Leopard 2 main battle tank.New Zurich newspaper out.
The reason for this is statements by Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger in an interview with the newspaper. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann sees these as “untrue, misleading statements of fact that violate their rights”.
The two companies also cooperated in the construction of other military vehicles. According to the report, however, their relationship with each other has cooled off in the recent past.
The Leopard 2 tank is considered one of the most modern main battle tanks in the world and plays an important role in repelling the Russian attack on Ukraine. But even apart from the war, which has been going on for more than a year, the main battle tank is the subject of a conflict. Because the two armaments companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, who built it together, are currently arguing about the copyright of the Leopard 2. This comes from a report by “New Zurich newspaper“ (NZZ) out.
read too
According to the “NZZ”, the starting point for the dispute is an interviewthat Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger gave the paper in mid-March. In it he claimed that Rheinmetall held the rights to the Leopard 2A4. However, the Munich company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann considers the product to be its intellectual property. For this reason, the family company demanded in a cease-and-desist declaration that Rheinmetall should refrain from such claims in the future. But obviously Rheinmetall didn’t go into it. The result: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann brought an action for an injunction against the group.
Dispute over rights to Leopard 2 tank continues in court
As a court spokeswoman confirmed to the “NZZ”, the two parties will meet on May 2nd in front of the district court in Munich to determine the copyright of the Leopard 2. According to her, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann objects to the Rheimetall boss’s statements as “untrue, misleading factual allegations that violate her rights”.
This position seems to be confirmed by a document from 1955 available to the “NZZ”. It comes from the former Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement, i.e. today’s Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the German Armed Forces. When the Spanish government asked who owned the rights to the tank, the agency replied: The intellectual property for the individual development parts such as the chain, the transmission and the hull is owned by all German industrial companies involved. However, the intellectual property for the entire system lies with Krauss-Maffei.
Rheinmetall has a different view on this. In an interview with the “NZZ”, CEO Papperger said: “We built a thousand Leopard 2A4s, based on our own intellectual property”. According to the medium, he was referring to the production of the battle tank in the 1980s. At that time, the licensed production of battle tanks for the German Bundeswehr was distributed between Munich, Kassel and Kiel. At that time, the production site in Kiel belonged to the company Maschinenbau Kiel, which has been part of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH since 2000.
Corporations also cooperated on other productions
The two armaments groups Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann have already cooperated in the past. For example, the Puma infantry fighting vehicle and the Boxer armored combat vehicle are the results of their collaboration. For the Leopard 2 main battle tank, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann built the hull and chassis, while Rheinmetall produced the turret and gun.
read too
According to the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”, however, the relationship between the two partners has cooled further in the recent past. For example, Rheinmetall’s attempt to take over Krauss-Maffei Wegmann failed. One of the reasons for this is said to be a personal feud between the two managing directors, Armin Papperger and Frank Haun. However, Haun denies this.
stm