Product details

In 1999, three technical engineers invented a membrane system to clean sewage water. They filed for patent for their inventions, founded their company Watertreat GmbH, and in 2000 received financial support from different start-up support programs. The founders successfully acquired venture capital from an investor and for the next three years, the product worked well. In December 2003, the company received its first major order; for Watertreat, the future looked bright. And then in January 2004, a lawsuit alleging multiple infringements of intellectual property rights threatened the company's very existence. How would the founders react to this danger, and what options did they have to counter it? This case is part of the E-FORCE free case collection (visit www.thecasecentre.org/eforcefreecases for more information on the collection).