Article 8

1. Member States shall ensure that, in the context of proceedings concerning an infringement of an intellectual property right and in response to a justified and proportionate request of the claimant, the competent judicial authorities may order that information on the origin and distribution networks of the goods or services which infringe an intellectual property right be provided by the infringer and/or any other person who:

(a) was found in possession of the infringing goods on a commercial scale;

(b) was found to be using the infringing services on a commercial scale;

(c) was found to be providing on a commercial scale services used in infringing activities; or

(d) was indicated by the person referred to in point (a), (b) or (c) as being involved in the production, manufacture or distribution of the goods or the provision of the services.

2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall, as appropriate, comprise:

(a) the names and addresses of the producers, manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and other previous holders of the goods or services, as well as the intended wholesalers and retailers;

(b) information on the quantities produced, manufactured, delivered, received or ordered, as well as the price obtained for the goods or services in question.

3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply without prejudice to other statutory provisions which:

(a) grant the rightholder rights to receive fuller information;

(b) govern the use in civil or criminal proceedings of the information communicated pursuant to this Article;

(c) govern responsibility for misuse of the right of information; or

(d) afford an opportunity for refusing to provide information which would force the person referred to in paragraph 1 to admit to his/her own participation or that of his/her close relatives in an infringement of an intellectual property right; or

(e) govern the protection of confidentiality of information sources or the processing of personal data.

UPC Case Law

IPPT20241007, UPC CFI, RD Nordic-Baltic, Abbott v Dexcom
Application to provide information dismissed as disproportionate (Article 67 UPCA, Article 8 Enforcement Directive, Rule 191 RoP). The Court order has to be as precise as possible, so that the obligated person may understand without a doubt what kind of information one has to provide. 

IPPT20240731, UPC CFI, LD Paris, Abbott v DexCom
Request for information regarding distribution chain admissible but dismissed (Article 67 UPCA, Rule 191 RoP, Article 8 Enforcement Directive). Rule 191 RoP can be invoked at different stages of the procedure: during the proceedings, in order to compel parties to submit information with regard to submissions to be made, or at the stage of the final decision. Furthermore, the Court notes that it is appropriate to apply the same reasoning in relation to the right to information under EU Enforcement Directive 2004/48 (Art. 8), which allows a request to be made at any stage of the procedure. Request for information dismissed: not sufficiently justified as the applicant fails to demonstrate that the requested information is reasonably necessary for the purpose of advancing that party’s case. Disclosure of the entire distribution chain of the allegedly infringing products, in a situation where ABBOTT has deliberately chosen to act only against certain distributors, would be disproportionate and not sufficiently directly related to the present case. Moreover, as suggested as an alternative by DEXCOM in its written comments, ABBOTT would still have the possibility of requesting the disclosure of targeted information on the role of each of the defendants in the infringement established by a decision on the merits, in order to determine the damages owed by each of the defendant entities.