Patent dispute over club jumps settled

RASCHAU – The patent dispute with Kurt Walter, which began last November, has been settled. Three weeks before the court date, Mr. Walter and Peter Riedel GmbH agreed to discontinue the plagiarized product. 

The dispute was triggered by the equipment of some club jumps with Walter's Jump Data track in violation of Peter Riedel GmbH's patents. "It is always a nuisance when one has to take such legal steps – but in such cases I had to protect my company as well as my employees. Our economic survival as a small manufactory depends on protecting our innovations and patents," explains managing director Peter Riedel the causes of the dispute. An offer for long-term collaboration in further development was rejected by Kurt Walter; instead he wants to completely discontinue the product "Jump Data." 

Riedel still wants to ensure that the affected clubs do not suffer any disadvantage due to the discontinuation of the plagiarized track: "We offer all clubs to simply retrofit to our track. With a few hand movements we can replace the stainless-steel studs with the glide-capable, more robust and high-quality porcelain studs used in our club track "The Original". The clubs can contact me at any time without any problem!"

What remains unclear are the outcomes of the irregularities at the K66 jump, also equipped with the Jump Data track, in Oberstdorf. Since subsidies were used and presumably serious errors were made in awarding contracts by the project managers, a final solution to the patent infringement is still being sought. 

"The whole situation is extremely sad for the clubs themselves, which do great work – and of course also for the completely uninvolved athletes. But a patent infringement is not a misdemeanour but fraud. Here I will also in the future honor the hard work of my team and intervene if necessary!" says Riedel.