She claimed half of her husband's patent – and will pay 50,000 shekels

The Family Court recently imposed legal costs of 50,000 shekels on a woman who caused an unnecessary delay in a lawsuit in which she demanded half of her estranged husband's rights to a patent he registered. Judge Iris Arbel-Asael noted that the proceedings lasted for an "exceptionally long period" due to the woman's repeated claims that her husband was hiding information from her.

The woman filed the lawsuit in December 2020 regarding a partnership her husband established with another person, which owns a registered patent. According to her, they were "acting with sophistication and manipulation to empty the partnership of all content," and were hiding information regarding the patent, its products, and generated income. The woman added that the value of the patent was expected to materialize into "life-changing sums," and she petitioned for ownership of half of her husband's rights.

The husband claimed from the beginning that he was willing to accept the lawsuit, and cynically added that his estranged wife was welcome to take the entire partnership, free of charge, provided that she bore the debts resting upon it. He added that although the partnership managed to register a patent, in practice it was a response to an obsolete technology that no longer exists, so its value was negligible. He agreed that his wife would receive 25% — half of his half — of any profit or loss the patent would bear, "from the day of the rift and until eternity."

Despite his position, the woman refused the offer and began a journey of collecting information. During a hearing, the husband provided a flash drive with all relevant data. Additionally, she was granted an order for the disclosure of documents from related parties, including the law firm and the accountant. However, the woman remained dissatisfied, insisting that her husband was hiding information. In April 2024, the court put a stop to the discovery process.

In March 2025, an actuary's opinion was submitted, confirming the husband's version that the partnership's value was zero. The actuary recommended transferring half of his rights in the patent to the woman — and this time she accepted.

"Not only did the woman not submit clarification questions to the expert, but in her summaries she emphasized that the opinion should be accepted in full, without a trace of the harsh claims regarding the value of the partnership and/or the patent on which she hung her hopes throughout the entire process, which disappeared as if they had never existed," wrote Judge Arbel-Asael.

In conclusion, the judge ordered that the woman be registered as the owner of half of the husband's rights in the patent. If the patent is sold, she will be entitled to a quarter of its proceeds. Given the plaintiff's conduct, "which led to an unnecessary delay of the proceedings based on empty claims," she was ordered to pay the husband 50,000 shekels in legal costs.