Pressure washer shield

I would be okay in U.K. but I think if the German patent is international you buddy is out of luck.

Thanks for the advice my poor old mate has taken all this very hard, what does not make sense is that the U.K search and the granting of a UK patent can be worthless. The German retailer who is selling my mates product told him to back off or they would sue him. I hope his new chest plumbing ie quad heart bypass holds. O well, its the way it goes U.K Patent Office should make there services more planner ie we offer full UK patents well sometimes.
Michael

I know nothing about the UK, but in the US the grant of a patent is no guarantee that it doesn't infringe on an already-existing patent. Although patent examiners search for "prior art," there are a lot of patents out there and they can't catch every one.

Hi Joe
Yes, I suppose that is the case here too, thing is as a complete novists, how can the patent office.gov, take your money each year for servicing a patent when basically it can be declared valueless over night, seems wrong.
Seems a rip off but hay that seems to be the way of the world these days.
Cheers