Rule 16 – Examination as to formal requirements of the Statement of claim

1. The Registry shall as soon as practicable check whether the patent concerned is the subject of an optout pursuant to Article 83(3) of the Agreement and Rule 5. In the event of an opt-out the Registry shall as soon as practicable inform the claimant who may withdraw or amend the Statement of claim as appropriate.

2. The Registry shall, as soon as practicable after the lodging of the Statement of claim, examine whether the requirements of Rules 13.1 (a) to (j), .2, 14 and 15.1 have been complied with.

3. If the claimant has not complied with the requirements referred to in paragraph 2, the Registry shall as soon as practicable invite the claimant to:

(a) correct the deficiencies within 14 days of service of such notification; and

(b) where applicable, pay the fee for the infringement action within said 14 days.

4. The Registry shall at the same time inform the claimant that if the claimant fails to correct the deficiencies or pay the fee within the time stated, a decision by default may be given, in accordance with Rule 355.

5. If the claimant fails to correct the deficiencies or pay the fee, the Registry shall inform a judge of the division who may reject the action as inadmissible by a decision by default. The judge may give the claimant an opportunity to be heard beforehand.

Case Law:

IPPT20240226, UPC CoA, Nanostring v 10x Genomics II

A distinction must be made between the formal requirements of Rule 206(2)(a) RoP (checked by the Registry) and the substantive requirements of Rule 206(2)(b) to (e) RoP (checked by the court). Formal requirements shall be examined by the Registry as soon as possible (Rule 208(1) RoP, Rule 16(2) RoP). If deficiencies are not corrected within 14 days a decision by default may be issued (Rule 16(5) RoP, Rule 355(1)(a) RoP).

IPPT20230705, UPC CFI, CD Paris, Bitzer v Carrier

Rule 16(3) RoP correction of deficiencies in the Statement of Claim is not an urgent action as mentioned in Rule 345(5) RoP that requires a standing judge. The abovementioned R. 16-5 RoP is not applicable in the present situation, as the claimant did not fail to correct the deficiencies within 14 days of service of the Registry’s notification but was only asked to amend the statement of claim according to the relevant correction provided in a separate document. The claimant is at the time of the present order allowed to lodge an amended statement of claim pursuant to R. 16-3 RoP.