Standalone action for revocation by intervener is inadmissible before the present Division in the case at hand (Article 33(3) and (4) UPCA, R. 316A RoP). The Court notes that the intervener will still have the possibility of acting independently before the UPC to challenge a patent that is, in his view, invalid, but...

Access to register of pending proceedings denied (Article 45 UPCA, R. 262 RoP). The interest in protecting the integrity of the ongoing proceedings outweighs the interest in accessing information asserted by the applicant, prevails. The mere fact of being interested in the outcome of a specific legal issue, concerning...

IPPT20250128, UPC CFI, LD Düsseldorf, Fujifilm v Kodak
Patent revoked in the territory of all Contracting Member States in which the patent has effect (Article 65 UPCA). Insufficient disclosure of the claimed invention over the complete scope of the granted claims. (Article 83 EPC, Article 138(2) EPC). As the features...

Preliminary views and questions for oral hearing (R. 105.5 RoP). Cross border injunction for UK? Panel is inclined to deal with the questions concerned in a separate proceeding after the separation of cases and stay such separate proceeding until a decision has been delivered by the ECJ (Case C-339/22, BSH Hausgeräte v...

Not necessary to attempt to serve decision by default in accordance with R. 274 RoP before an order that steps  taken is good service (R. 275.2 RoP) where the application for a provisional measure could not be served in accordance with R. 274 RoP and there is no indication that the decision by default can be served in...

Evidence is not set exhaustively in R. 170 RoP.  NJ wishes to examine the two wigs deposited at the registry (exhibits nos. 861 and 16), position one or more bright lights at the connection areas of the cap, specifically at the band, and take photographs and enlargements of them to show. The measure requested by NJ...

IPPT20250121, UPC CFI, CD Paris, NJOY Netherlands v VMR Products
Revocation action dismissed (Article 65 UPCA).  Court not convinced that it would have been obvious to suggest the claimed vaporizer, regardless of ‘Cross’ being combined with an alleged common general knowledge or with ‘Lee’. To asses inventive step (Arti...

Patent revoked because of ‘added matter' (Article 65 UPCA)(Article 138(1)(c) EPC). It extends beyond the content of the European Patent Application as filed (MWE 3) and beyond the content of the parent application (MWE 4). Person skilled in the art of vaping devices (Article 56 EPC) is a mechanical engineer with either...

Change in parties (R. 305 RoP, R. 306 RoP, R. 310 RoP). Sanofi-Aventis France, which ceased to exist, is replaced by Sanofi Winthrop Industrie. As Sanofi Winthrop Industrie is already party to the proceedings this replacement has no consequence on proceedings. Sanofi Winthrop Industrie is bound by the proceedings as...

o patent infringement: neither literal nor by equivalence (Article 25 UPCA). The assessment of the scope of protection of a patent is in two stages (Article 69 EPC, Interpretation Protocol). In the first stage, the literal infringement must be assessed on the basis of the characteristics of the patent in the light of...

IPPT20250116, UPC CFI President, BF exaQC v NVIDIA
Application to change the language of the proceedings from German to English dismissed (Article 49 (5) UPCA, R. 323 RoP). Given its financial resources and logistical support, NVIDIA has the capacity and means to conduct proceedings in a foreign language – especially...

Patent infringement (Article 25 UPCA). All features of claim 1 are used in the optical unit. Invalidity objection (subject-matter extends beyond the application as filed, Article 123(2) EPC)) not addressed in terms of content since no counterclaim for revocation was filed (R. 25 RoP, R. 42 RoP). No (definitional)...

No reason not to include independent patent consultant for Maxeon Solar and involved in all patent matters. He provides support in the preparation of written submissions and thus requires unrestricted access to all the revenue, profit and sales figures. The fact that Mr. […] is not an employee of the Claimant or an...

Withdrawal of action by party consent (R. 265 RoP). The applications to withdraw the infringement action and the counterclaims for revocation are admissible since there is no final decision in the actions in view of the pending appeal, and the Court of Appeal is responsible for deciding on the permissibility of the...

Inadmissible application for cost decision following decision on provisional measures. An application for a decision for costs can only be lodged within one month after the service of the decision on the merits. (R. 150 RoP). If the applicant does not start proceedings on the merits of the case pursuant to R. 213 RoP, ...

Penalty payment sanction (Article 82(4)UPCA) on a confidentiality order (Article 58 UPCA) can only be imposed on a party, but not against their representatives, which does not exclude the parties' liability for infringements by their representatives. Insofar as the requests relate to court staff, there is also no legal...

Bifurcation: parties agree and most practical solution (Article 33(3) UPCA). As the oral hearing is already scheduled by the Central Division – and its date is approaching within the next two to three months – a referral of the counterclaim to the Central Division appears to be the most practical solution to avoid...

IPPT20250114, UPC CFI, LD Düsseldorf, Ortovox v Mammut
Revocation action unfounded, patent infringed. Direct infringement of product claim (Article 25(a) UPCA) even though voice control feature requires activation. If a device in the offered or offered or sold is not yet suitable for making use of all the features of...

Instead of staying the proceedings, the deadline for the statement of defence and any counterclaims is extended to 27.2.2025 (R. 9 RoP, R. 295 RoP) because of oral hearing in the EPO appeals proceedings scheduled for 13 February 2025: allows for a more overall procedural efficiency, on one hand not staying this...

Confidentiality club regime (R. 262A RoP). Witness's personal details and copy of his passport do not qualify as confidential information under Rule 262A RoP. The witness's personal data are protected against disclosure to third parties by the mechanism provided for in Rule 262 RoP. Remaining information qualifies as...