The UK High Court considers whether a no-challenge provision in a patent settlement agreement is unenforceable on the basis that it was in breach of Art. 81 EC (Knorr-Bremse Systems / Haldex Brake)

In the context of a ruling on jurisdiction, which determined that a UK company is not bound by the terms of a German settlement agreement relating to a patent dispute, the English High Court considers, without deciding the issue, whether a no-challenge provision in a patent settlement agreement might be unenforceable on the basis that it was in breach of Article 81 of the EC Treaty (“Article 81 EC”). Background The Knorr-Bremse Group UK (“KBS UK”), is a UK subsidiary of the largest manufacturer of brake systems in the world, Knorr-Bremse Group (“KBS”). KBS was involved in a dispute before the German courts with another large German brake systems manufacturer Haldex Brake Products GmbH (“Haldex”). Haldex claimed that the German subsidiary of KBS, KBS GmbH, had breached its German