Article 4

1. Subject to this Regulation, persons domiciled in a Member State shall, whatever their nationality, be sued in the courts of that Member State.
2. Persons who are not nationals of the Member State in which they are domiciled shall be governed by the rules of jurisdiction applicable to nationals of that Member State.

Case Law

Court of Justice EU

IPPT20250225, CJEU, BSH Hausgeräte v Electrolux
Cross border jurisdiction of a Swedish court over a Swedish domiciled defendant regarding infringement of all national parts of a European patent validated in Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Türkiye. Article 4 and article 24 Brussels I bis Regulation. Article 24(4) of the Brussels I bis Regulation must be interpreted as meaning that a court of the Member State of domicile of the defendant which is seised, pursuant to Article 4(1) of that regulation, of an action alleging infringement of a patent granted in another Member State, does still have jurisdiction to hear that action where, in the context of that action, that defendant challenges, as its defence, the validity of that patent, whereas the courts of that other Member State have exclusive jurisdiction to rule on that validity. Cross border jurisdiction under Article 4 Brussels I bis Regulation: under the general rule laid down in Article 4(1) of the Brussels I bis Regulation, the courts of the Member State in which the defendant is domiciled have, in principle, jurisdiction in an infringement action brought against that defendant by the holder of a patent granted or validated in a third State which is domiciled in another Member State. In addition, the jurisdiction of the court of the Member State thus seised does, in principle, by virtue of that general rule, extend to the question of the validity of that patent raised as a defence in the context of that infringement action. Article 24(4) Brussels 1 bis Regulation does not apply to a court of a Third State and, consequently, does not confer any jurisdiction, whether exclusive or otherwise, on such a court as regards the assessment of the validity of a patent granted or validated by that State. If a court of a Member State is seised, on the basis of Article 4(1) of that regulation, of an action alleging infringement of a patent granted or validated in a third State in which the question of the validity of that patent is raised, as a defence, that court has jurisdiction, pursuant to Article 4(1), to rule on that defence [inter partes], its decision in that regard not being such as to affect the existence or content of that patent in that third State or to cause the national register of that State to be amended

IPPT20050301, ECJ, Owusu v Jackson
No forum non-convenience exception for the benefit of courts of non-contracting states. The Brussels Convention precludes a court of a Contracting State from declining the jurisdiction conferred on it by Article 2 of that convention on the ground that a court of a non-Contracting State would be a more appropriate forum for the trial of the action even if the jurisdiction of no other Contracting State is in issue or the proceedings have no connecting factors to any other Contracting State.

UPC Case Law

IPPT20250130, UPC CFI, LD Mannheim, Fujifilm v Kodak - II
Order setting out decisions taken at interim conference (R. 105.5 RoP). Panel inclined to deal with cross border injunction questions for the UK separately in case no final decision has been delivered by the ECJ in case 339/22 (BSH Hausgerate). The question of a possible retroactive effect of the UPCA in the light of Art 28 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) will have to be discussed, in particular if the UPCA’s substantive provisions are also applicable to acts where commitment has begun before the entry into force of the UPCA but are ongoing

IPPT20250128, UPC CFI, LD Düsseldorf, Fujifilm v Kodak
Cross border jurisdiction UPC over defendant domiciled in UPC Contracting Member State regarding infringement of UK part of a European patent (R. 20 RoP, Article 4 Brussels Regulation, Article 24 Brussels Regulation). This also applies if the defendant has filed a counterclaim for revocation in respect of the German part of the patent in suit. Even then, as regards the infringement action concerning the United Kingdom, the Unified Patent Court has jurisdiction to hear the case.