Baumer hhs aims to be a partner to its customers for hot melt application, continually supplying them with pioneering innovations. One example is the company’s patented Plug & Glue system. “In 2006, our engineers developed an idea for hot melt units that can configure themselves automatically,” says Thomas Walther, Head of Business Development. “They implemented it by equipping the individual hot melt hoses and the glue application heads with data carriers. Using the stored data, the controller in the hot melt unit automatically detects newly connected hoses or glue application heads following replacement, and adjusts the control parameters accordingly. Besides ensuring optimum functioning of the control system, the stored operating data also supports preventive maintenance.”
Baumer hhs was granted patent protection for this innovative solution under patent EP 20 547 85 B1 in Europe, CN 101506751B in China, JP5436210B2 in Japan and US9840643B2 in the US. Another company later filed a notice of opposition on the EP patent with the European Patent Office. However, the Opposition Division of the European Patent Office in its first-instance decision confirmed the patentability of the innovation, in response to which the other company filed an appeal. Finally, on 2 November 2019, after the conclusion of two second-instance proceedings, a decision in favour of Baumer hhs was issued, upholding the validity of a modified version of the European Patent. In addition to these proceedings, a patent infringement suit filed with Düsseldorf District Court against the other company for the use of this patented solution is still pending.
