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This company is claiming they are using "patented technology"

https://marx-shoes.com/pages/technologie

sourced from a company call "powerinsole". The only patent associated with this so called technology that I could find is

A 60002/2018 http://seeip.patentamt.at/NPatentSuche

which is abgebrochen (cancelled)

Title   pi performance chip
Application No  A 60002/2018
Patent No   
Application Date    03/01/2018
State   Registration Canceled
Zugehörige Schutzzertifikate    
Applicant   Martin Masching, Pfarrhofweg 1a, 5162, Obertrum (AT)

I have asked the company, 'Marx Shoes', to produce the patent number or document for any current patent but they have deleted my questions on their social media site.

Is it illegal within the EU to claim to have patents when you do not?

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  • 1
    Related: law.stackexchange.com/questions/61401/…
    – user35069
    Commented May 21, 2021 at 17:26
  • Yes the company threatened to sue me when I pointed out that their "Powerchip" didn't have a battery and no actual chip was inside and neither were there any other electric components inside. The only thing is a plastic card and four magnets and a pattern printed on the card that looks like a circuit if you didn't know what a circuit should actually look like. I purchased a device and dissected it on camera and posted the photos of it showing that there is nothing like what they claim is inside. That made them unhappy 🤣
    – bradgonesurfing
    Commented May 21, 2021 at 18:03

1 Answer 1

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They don't actually claim to have a patent. Lots of people license a patent, and then they are using "patented technology".

The only effect of this statement is: If you want to copy their product, you better find out what patent they are licensing, otherwise you might be in legal trouble. And their statement means you should have known that your copy of their product is covered by some patent, so you lose some defenses if you are accused of using a patent without license.

And of course many customers think if something is patented then it must be good. Which is not true obviously. But logically who owns the patent doesn't make a difference to that, so their statement isn't misleading IMHO.

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  • The patented technology is powerinsole. I don't believe a valid patent exists for this technology. I don't believe that Marx is claiming their shoe is patented but the powerinsole component is. At least that is what the advertising suggests.
    – bradgonesurfing
    Commented May 21, 2021 at 9:42
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    @bradgonesurfing - The actual claim seems very nebulous. As far as I can tell (and my mastery of German is nowhere near adequate for legal purposes), they don't appear to actually say that Powerinsole is patented, even if that's what they're implying. It just says "Patented Technology" above the section talking about it. As gnasher729 pointed out, the actual patent could be something else, patented by someone else and then licenced.
    – GeoffAtkins
    Commented May 21, 2021 at 9:57
  • The photo block into which the term "Patented technology" is a photo of the actual powerinsole device. The suggestion is clear that the device with the four magnets is the "patented technogy". I would expect to find a patent somewhere for the device with the four magnets.
    – bradgonesurfing
    Commented May 21, 2021 at 10:20
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    In the U.S. a manufacturer gets additional remedies against an infringer if the item that is sold is properly marked. "Uses patented technology" would not qualify as proper marking. There is also a $500 per item fine for misleading patent marking where there is no patent or patent application. 35 U.S. Code § 292 - False marking
    – George White
    Commented May 21, 2021 at 16:18

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