BMW has filed a motion to intervene in a dispute between Irish patent holding company Arigna Technology and litigation funder Longford Capital as a way of recovering its costs after successfully defending a series of patent infringement claims by Arigna.

In a filing lodged with the US District Court for the District of Delaware last week, BMW says it is owed “significant funds” from Arigna’s unsuccessful campaign against it in Germany, which was “indirectly backed” by Longford.

It claims it therefore holds a significant financial interest in funds Arigna and Longford are in dispute over such that “BMW’s interest will be impaired if the court denies BMW the opportunity to participate in the action”.

The funding dispute was filed in December by Arigna against Longford Capital and relates to claims on proceeds from third party IP rights. 

Longford responded with a motion seeking to dismiss the claim and compel Arigna to settle the dispute through arbitration which Arigna subsequently opposed.

BMW has been hit by a spate of patent infringement claims from Dublin-based Arigna, part of the Atlantic IP Services group, spanning multiple jurisdictions including the US and Germany and dating back to February 2021.

In Germany, two cases have been finally adjudicated in BMW’s favour and two more await final determination for BMW. In its motion to intervene, BMW says it expects the German court to order Arigna to pay between $380,000 and $1.1m in fees.

The dispute has had a number of twists. In January, Arigna’s US counsel, Susman Godfrey, filed a motion to withdraw from representing Arigna in a claim before the Eastern Virginia district court citing a business conflict. 

Both Arigna and BMW opposed the motion and in its filing, the German carmaker had pushed for further details of the dispute between Arigna and Longford.

A few days later, however, BMW, represented by Finnegan, secured a zero-dollar resolution of the dispute, resulting in its dismissal with prejudice. 

There is one patent dispute still pending between Arigna and BMW in the US, at the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

For the Delaware case, BMW is being represented by Lionel M. Lavenue, a partner at US IP firm Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner, and Andrew E. Russell, a partner at Delaware litigation boutique Shaw Keller.