German 'Leopard 2' Tanks Supported for Ukraine Entangled in Copyright Lawsuit

Lawsuit Between Chache Jejaksa and Posin Jejaksa
Growing Maintenance and Purchase Demand Across European Countries

A legal battle has begun between German defense companies over the copyright of the Leopard 2 main battle tanks supplied to Ukraine. This is interpreted as fierce competition among companies due to increased orders, maintenance, and upgrade demands from various European countries following the Ukraine war.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

On the 25th (local time), according to German local media such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Germany's largest defense companies KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) and Rheinmetall are set to start a lawsuit over the copyright of the Leopard 2 tank. The Munich 1 District Court in Germany announced that the lawsuit will proceed on the 2nd of next month.

The core of the dispute between the two companies is which models of the Leopard 2 tank each company’s copyright is recognized for. KMW, the company that developed the hull of the Leopard 2 tank, claims copyright over all models. However, Rheinmetall, which cooperated in developing the barrel, ammunition, and fire control system during the tank’s initial development, claims that it holds intellectual property rights at least up to the early 2A4 model deployed in 1985.

Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, stated in an interview with the Swiss Neue Z?rcher Zeitung (NZZ), "We produced 1,000 Leopard 2A4 tanks based on our own intellectual property rights." However, KMW has rebutted this claim, calling it false and an infringement of copyright.

The reason the two companies are engaged in a legal dispute over a tank that was developed and deployed more than 40 years ago is presumed to be due to the rapidly increased maintenance and new demand for Leopard 2 tanks following the Ukraine war. The Leopard 2, developed in the 1980s near the end of the Cold War, was sold in over 2,000 units across Europe and is considered a state-of-the-art tank alongside the American Abrams tank.

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war and the increased security threat from Russia, demand for the Leopard 2 has grown not only in Ukraine but also across Europe. Maintenance and repair requests have been received not only from Germany but also from Spain, Poland, Greece, and other European countries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.