The German Federal Patent Court today upheld a patent held by Rochester’s Document Security Systems Inc. on a technique used on billions of euro banknotes to thwart counterfeiting.

The ruling in Munich dealt a blow to the European Central Bank, which a day ago had won a similar case in London.

“This is a major victory for our shareholders as it substantiates the power of our intellectual property portfolio,” Patrick White, Document Security Systems CEO, said in the statement.

The Munich ruling was part of a series of lawsuits across Europe, including France, Spain and the Netherlands, that the central bank has filed in a bid to overturn the patent.

DSS has a patent infringement case pending against the central bank at the European Court of First Instance.

The company’s shares were up $2.61 to $11.21 in afternoon trading in New York.