Article 32

Competence of the Court

1.   The Court shall have exclusive competence in respect of:

(a) actions for actual or threatened infringements of patents and supplementary protection certificates and related defences, including counterclaims concerning licences;

(b) actions for declarations of non-infringement of patents and supplementary protection certificates;

(c) actions for provisional and protective measures and injunctions;

(d) actions for revocation of patents and for declaration of invalidity of supplementary protection certificates;

(e) counterclaims for revocation of patents and for declaration of invalidity of supplementary protection certificates;

(f) actions for damages or compensation derived from the provisional protection conferred by a published European patent application;

(g) actions relating to the use of the invention prior to the granting of the patent or to the right based on prior use of the invention;

(h) actions for compensation for licences on the basis of Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012; and

(i) actions concerning decisions of the European Patent Office in carrying out the tasks referred to in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012.

2.   The national courts of the Contracting Member States shall remain competent for actions relating to patents and supplementary protection certificates which do not come within the exclusive competence of the Court.

Case Law

Court of Appeal

IPPT20250116, UPC CoA, Fives v REEL
The Court’s competence (or jurisdiction) includes a separate action for determination of damages after a national court - before entry into force of the UPCA - has established the existence of an infringement of a European patent and an obligation in principle for the infringer to pay damages (Article 32(1) UPCA). The wording of Art. 32(1)(a) UPCA is inconclusive; […], while […] the rationale behind Art. 32(1)(f) UPCA speaks in favour of jurisdiction of the UPC for separate damages actions, when the infringement has been established by a national court. The Brussels Regulation is not relevant to the question of interpretation of Art. 32(1)(a) UPCA. Art. 71b Brussels Ia Regulation only regulates the international jurisdiction of the UPC in relation to the courts of non-contracting Member States. Through Art. 68 UPCA, the UPC has its own damages provisions. If an action is lodged with the UPC, within its jurisdiction and encompassing a damages request, there is by consequence a complete set of substantive rules applicable insofar as the European patents of the CMSs are concerned. They are subject to uniform substantive law and procedural rules. The Rules provide for adjudication in – at the very least – one type of scenario, where the existence of an infringement will not have to be assessed in law and in fact by the Court. There does not seem to be a reason to treat the situation in the present case differently.

Court of First Instance

IPPT20250214, UPC CFI, LD Munich, GXD-Bio v Myriad
Preliminary objection rejected (R. 19 RoP) Defendants have not raised any of the grounds set out in the exhaustive list of Rule 19.1 RoP. […] the grounds put forward by the Defendants 1-8 in support of their preliminary objection do not appear to concern the Court's jurisdiction and competence under Article 32 UPCA, but only the question of the Claimant's standing to bring an action and/or the question of whether the Claimant has acquired substantive ownership of the claims it has asserted.

IPPT20250210, UPC CFI, LD Munich, Phoenix v ILME
IPPT20250210, UPC CFI, LD Munich, Esko v XSYS
Preliminary objection admissible, but unfounded (R. 19 RoP). The UPC's has jurisdiction relating to a European patent that has not yet lapsed at the time of entry into force of the UPCA pursuant to Art. 32(1)(a) UPCA, Art. 2g), Art. 3c) UPCA and covers infringement actions to the extent that they are based on acts of use which are alleged to have taken place before the UPCA entered into force and/or in the period between an opt-out and the withdrawal thereof (Article 84 UPCA). Jurisdiction and applicable law are separate aspects that must be assessed separately. It cannot be concluded from the UPC's jurisdiction that the UPCA always applies to every case to be decided, nor is the applicable law decisive for the UPC's jurisdiction (Article 24 UPCA, Article 32 UPCA).

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

IPPT20241218, UPC CFI, LD Hamburg, Visibly v Easee
Preliminary objection dismissed (R. 19 RoP). An alleged patent infringement is a matter of tort, delict or quasi-delict in the meaning of Art. 7 sub (2) of the Brussels I recast Regulation. Thus, the UPC has jurisdiction also for claims based on personal (director) liability with regards to an alleged infringement of a European patent under Article 32 UPCA. Whether the director of a company can be successfully sued before the UPC and held liable for the infringement of a patent is a liable is a question of the merits of the case which is not subject to the determination of jurisdiction and competence.

IPPT20241010, UPC CFI, LD Düsseldorf, Seoul Viosys v epert e-Commerce - I
UPC has international competence regarding counterclaims for revocation of non-opted out (European) patents (Article 32(1)(e) UPCA, Article 83(3) UPCA, Article 24(4) Brussels I Recast). 

IPPT20240411, UPC CFI, LD Paris, ARM v ICPillar
UPC has jurisdiction over infringement acts that began before 1 June 2023 and continued after this date and that are not covered by the period of limitations. This applies on the basis of Articles 3(c), 32(1)(a) and 72 UPCA. 

IPPT20231117, UPC CFI, LD Hamburg, Fives v Reel

Article 32(a) UPCA confers competence on the UPC to determine damages only after a prior action for patent infringement has been brought before a chamber of the UPC. The UPC does not have competence for actions for the determination of damages on the basis of patent infringement proceedings that have become final before a national court. Preliminary objection granted (Rule 19(1)(a) RoP)

IPPT20231020, UPC CFI, LD Helsinki, AIM Sport Vision v Supponor

UPC lacks competence because withdrawal of opt-out on 5 July 2023 is ineffective due to national infringement and invalidity proceedings brought before German national courts, which were pending on 1 June 2023 (Article 32 UPCA, Article 83 UPCA, Rule 5 RoP). Irrelevant whether same parties are involved in the national actions. Article 71c(2) Brussels I Regulation (recast) only concerns a situation of parallel jurisdiction and is not applicable where the competence of the UPC has been opted out. The reading used by the Court of Article 83(4) UPCA is also in line with the principle of non-retroactivity of treaties as stipulated under Article 28 VCLT.

IPPT20230929, UPC CFI, LD Munich, Edwards Lifesciences v Meril

In the view of the judge-rapporteur the Unified Patent Court has jurisdiction over infringement acts committed before the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on 1 June 2023. This follows from article 3(c) UPCA and article 32(1)(a) UPCA and the absence of transitional provisions to the contrary.