Rule 361 – Action manifestly bound to fail

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Where it is clear that the Court has no jurisdiction to take cognisance of an action or of certain of the claims therein or where the action or defence is, in whole or in part, manifestly inadmissible or manifestly lacking any foundation in law, the Court may, after giving the parties an opportunity to be heard, give a decision by way of order.

 

Case Law:

 

Court of Appeal

 

IPPT20241015, UPC CoA, Microsoft v Suinno
“Action manifestly bound to fail” (R. 361 RoP, R. 220.3 RoP) must be reserved for clear-cut cases. It should not result in a full exchange of arguments and evidence, as is clear from the use of the words ‘manifestly inadmissible’, and should not require further in-depth analysis, as rightly pointed out in the impugned order. Microsoft has failed to demonstrate that a review of the impugned order on the requirement set under R. 361 RoP is necessary to ensure a consistent application and interpretation of the RoP or any other objective of the discretionary review procedure. Microsoft’s position that the impugned order is incorrect and does not provide a correct interpretation of Art 48(5) UPCA, R. 8.1 and R. 290.2 RoP, and Art. 2.4.1 of the Code of Conduct for Representatives who appear before the Unified Patent Court, is not sufficient for the Court to grant Microsoft’s application, in particular as the issue of independence of a UPC representative is also the subject matter of a R. 220.2 RoP appeal currently pending, during which both Microsoft and Suinno have the opportunity to address it thoroughly. 

 

IPPT20240918, UPC CoA, Volkswagen v NST

Actions “manifestly” bound to fail (R. 361 RoP) reserved for clear-cut cases and should not result in a full exchange of arguments and evidence. A Statement of claim (R. 13 RoP) that sets out in detail why one infringing embodiment, that is taken as an example, infringes the patent and that includes a list setting out further embodiments with a similar structure that are infringing for (essentially) the same reasons, does not with respect to the embodiments included in that list result in an action that is manifestly lacking any foundation in law as meant in R. 361 RoP). It remains to be seen what the approach of the UPC in this respect shall be, which is a matter to be dealt with in the main proceedings (and possibly followed by appeal proceedings). 

 

IPPT20240821, UPC CoA, Microsoft v Suinno
Inadmissible request for discretionary review by the Court of Appeal of an order rejecting – without leave to appeal – the ‘R.361 RoP request’ to declare the revocation action manifestly inadmissible (Rule 361 RoP). Leave to appeal as provided for in Rule 220.2 RoP required because the provision of Rule 363(2) RoP that a “decision  […] pursuant to Rules […] 361 […] is a final decision within the meaning of Rule 220.1(a)” (for which leave to appeal is not required) only concerns orders granting a ´R.361 RoP request´. An order denying a R.361 RoP request is a case management order as meant in R.333.1 RoP that cannot be directly appealed but can only be reviewed by the panel.

 

Court of First Instance

 

IPPT20240925, UPC CFI, LD Munich, Hereaeus v Vibrantz - I
A counterclaim for revocation against a registered proprietor (R. 8.6 RoP) who is not entitled to be registered as proprietor (R. 8.5 RoP) is not manifestly bound to fail (R. 361 RoP) (R. 42 RoP, R. 25 RoP). In the event the registered proprietor and the person entitled to be registered as proprietor are not the same, the registered proprietor must file an application under Rule 305.1(c) RP as soon as possible. According to this provision, the court may, at the request of a party, order that one person replace another.

 

IPPT20240916, UPC CFI, CD Paris, Microsoft v Suinno - I
Manifest inadmissibility of the action (Rule 361 RoP) implies that the inadmissibility must be clearly evident from the pleadings and its assessment does not require any particular in-depth analysis. Alleged lack of independence by the claimant’s representative does not appear to be ‘manifest’ and, therefore, could not lead to an assessment of manifest inadmissibility of the action. Requesting “the Court to determine and award past damages” is a sufficiently clear indication of the remedy sought with the infringement action and the fact that the damages asked is not indicate in a specific amount does not render the claim generic and does not constitute a violation of the requirement set by Rule 13(1)(k) RoP.

 

IPPT20240702, UPC CFI, CD Paris, Microsoft v Suinno
Request rejected to declare the infringement action manifestly inadmissible (Rule 361 RoP) because (a) the claimant was not duly represented according to Article 48 of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (‘UPCA’) and Rule 8 (1) ‘RoP’ or (b) the content of the statement of claim was insufficient, as it lacked the requirements provided for by Rule 13 (1) (k) ‘RoP’.