UPC CFI , LD Paris, 23 January 2026: Validity, reasonable delay in seeking provisional measures

Patent valid but not infringed. Application for provisional measures rejected. (Art. 25 UPCA. Rule 211 RoP). 

No unreasonable delay in seeking provisional measures. (R. 211.4 RoP). 

The starting point for the reasonable delay in seeking provisional measures is the date on which a correspondence began between the parties on the subject of the present dispute.

The Court considers that a three-month period constitutes a reasonable delay to prepare action by gathering the necessary evidence, given that the case involves several patents and a complex and sophisticated technology. 

Added Matter (Article 123 EPC). 

The patent and dependent Claims 2 to 14 of the patent are more likely than not to be invalid because of added-matter. 

The Court must ascertain what the skilled person would derive directly and unambiguously using their common general knowledge, as seen objectively with respect to the date of filing, from the whole PCT application as filed. 

On the basis of this, implicitly disclosed subject-matter shall also be considered as part of its content. 

However, the content of an application must not be considered to be a reservoir from which features pertaining to separate embodiments of the application could be combined in order to artificially create a particular embodiment. 

The invention as now worded in the granted Claim 1 cannot directly and unambiguously be derived from the patent as filed.

Allegations of infringement by GUARDANT HEALTH suffer from a "lack of evidence": The burden of proof for the alleged infringement lies with the party invoking it .  (Art. 25 UPCA , R. 211.2 RoP). 

Applicant has failed to demonstrate the existence of an infringement of the patent by "DDM access" with a sufficient degree of certainty . 

It is not sufficient to rely mainly on a press release to demonstrate how SOPHIA GENETICS's software processes data.

IPPT20260123, UPC CFI LD Paris, Guardant Health v Sophia Genetics