Patent dispute ended: Settlement between Compleo Charging Solutions and S.A.F.E.

Agreement improves legal certainty when implementing calibration law in the e-mobility sector: patents EP 2 531 368 B1 and EP 2 755 846 B1 can be freely used worldwide in future

Munich, Berlin, Dortmund, 13 June 2024 - Compleo Charging Solutions and S.A.F.E. e.V. have reached a settlement before the Federal Patent Court in Munich. As part of this settlement, it was decided that the patents EP 2 531 368 B1 and EP 2 755 846 B1 should be freely usable worldwide in the future. The agreement in the patent dispute ensures increased legal certainty and reliability in the implementation of calibration law requirements for charging infrastructure, which will benefit the entire e-mobility sector. Compleo will provide a corresponding declaration free of charge in response to requests for confirmation of approval. The company is deliberately foregoing a possible appeal in order to jointly advance the mass market for e-mobility.

"We have no intention of appealing. Compleo has made a conscious decision to allow the industry to use the patents free of charge in order to make e-mobility easier and more transparent on a large scale in Germany. This decision is part of our realignment as a company," explains Jörg Lohr, CEO of Compleo Charging Solutions. "A standardised market is our top priority. There are currently still too many functional hurdles and suppliers are getting in each other's way - this is unnecessary and hinders the progress of electromobility. We are convinced that giving way here shows strength and benefits both sustainability and the entire e-mobility sector." 

The patents EP 2 531 368 B1 and EP 2 755 846 B1 belong to a patent family that describes a method that is used in conjunction with transparency software in accordance with the specifications of the Physikalisch Technische Prüfanstalt des Bundes (PTB) for the certification of charging infrastructure in compliance with calibration law. This allows drivers of electric vehicles to compare billing data from charging processes with the signed original data and thus check whether the billing is correct.

As the previous patent holder, Compleo Charging Solutions had considered commercialising the use of the patents by third parties. For S.A.F.E. members, this would have meant that they would no longer have been able to use their charging stations with the transparency software in a legally secure manner without entering into a licence agreement with Compleo. S.A.F.E. e.V. then decided to take legal action to clarify the legal validity of both patents and at the same time initiated the development of an alternative solution that does not infringe the patents. The trial took place in mid-May 2024 at the Federal Patent Court in Munich and ended with the settlement that has now been reached.

Hauke Hinrichs, first chairman of S.A.F.E. e.V., comments: "It is important that there is now clarity on how the use of the signing procedure will be handled in future. All manufacturers of charging systems who have previously used the S.A.F.E. e.V. signing procedure and transparency software now have the certainty that existing and future systems can be manufactured and operated without further licence costs."

With the release of the patents, Compleo Charging Solutions, a subsidiary of the KOSTAL Group, wants to contribute to the further advancement of electromobility in Germany and Europe. Thanks to the agreement that has now been reached, manufacturers of charging infrastructure do not have to switch their products to the alternative solution.

Requests for free confirmation of approval of patents EP 2 531 368 B1 and EP 2 755 846 B1 should be sent to: ip-licensing@compleo-cs.com

About S.A.F.E. e.V. - Software Alliance for E-Mobility

S.A.F.E. is an association for the promotion of research and consumer protection in the field of electromobility. It was founded in May 2019 by companies from the electromobility sector with the aim of developing a low-cost software solution that meets the legal requirements of the German Measurement and Verification Act (MessEG) and makes it possible to permanently store and retrieve the data generated for the billing of charging processes subject to payment in a tamper-proof manner so that the correctness of the billing can be checked retrospectively by the parties concerned. The aim is to create a uniform standard, maintain it in the long term and thus guarantee consumer protection in the long term. S.A.F.E. has over 100 members. Further information: https://safe-ev.org/de/

Press contact 

Dr Matthias Grote
Head of office
E-mail: info@safe-ev.de

About Compleo

Compleo Charging Solutions is one of the leading charging technology providers for electric vehicles in Europe. As part of the KOSTAL Group, the company supports its business customers with various charging stations: The range includes AC, DC and HPC charging stations as well as the first DC charging stations on the market that comply with calibration law. Compleo has its headquarters in Dortmund. Its customers include Allego, Clever, EWE Go, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens and more than 300 municipal utilities in Germany. More information at: www.compleo-charging.com

Press contact 

Katrin Osburg
PR & Communication
E-mail: presse@compleo-cs.com