Key takeaways
The violation of a standstill agreement does not constitute grounds for challenging the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court
Lack of jurisdiction can occur when a different court or a different body (as an arbitration board) which is part of a different judicial system have the power to address the dispute (‘relative’ lack of jurisdiction) or when the situation brought to courts is not even abstractly configurable as a protectable right, pertaining to the administrative or the legislative power (‘absolute’ lack of jurisdiction).
None of these applies in the case of a standstill agreement according to which a party has to inform the other party of the intention to file a lawsuit a certain time before the lawsuit is filed.
The assessment of whether there is a lack of jurisdiction must be based on objective criteria and must not vary depending on the time of the filing of a claim or on the identity of the claimant.
Division
Central Division Paris
UPC number
UPC_CFI_589997/2023
Type of proceedings
Central revocation action; Preliminary objection
Parties
Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc., Tandem Diabetes Care Europe B.V.
vs.
Roche Diabetes Care GmbH
Patent(s)
EP 2 196 231
Body of legislation / Rules
Rules 19 (1) (b), 48 RoP