Volkswagen has said it is investigating allegations reported in a German newspaper that its Chinese partner has been illegally using the German car manufacturer’s patents in its models.
South Korea's Samsung LED said on Sunday it had asked the US International Trade Commission to ban US imports of goods made by Osram due to a patent row with the German lighting firm.
Regardless of what happens on the football pitch on Monday, as far as innovation is concerned, the Germans are European champions - but although they created the MP3 audio encoding format and the fax, it is often foreign groups that have profited from their development.