Topics: claim construction
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LD Paris, April 16, 2026, Infringement Action and Counterclaim for Revocation, UPC_CFI_138/2025, UPC_CFI_522/2025
Party-affiliated affidavits are valuable technical information but lack the probative value of independent expert opinions (R. 181(2) RoP).: Both parties submitted affidavits from current or former employees. The Court treated these as witness statements rather than expert opinions, but nonetheless considered them valuable technical information from persons with industry experience in the relevant technical area.…
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LD Mannheim, April 16, 2026, Infringement action and Counterclaim for revocation, UPC_CFI_819/2024 and UPC_CFI_414/2025
Claim construction: The patent is its own lexicon, “purposive non-use” excludes intent not contamination, and claim features can be technically interdependent.: The term “alkali-free” was interpreted not as a complete absence but as a concentration below a specific threshold defined in the patent itself. The prohibition on “using neither arsenic nor antimony” was held to…
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LD Düsseldorf, April 16, 2026, Decision, UPC_CFI_779/2024
For the objective elements of indirect infringement, it is not necessary that both components of the patent claim do exist (Art. 26 UPCA).: Where a patent claim protects a two-component product, the objective elements of indirect infringement are satisfied if the accused component is designed to cooperate with a second component configured in accordance with…
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CD Munich, April 8, 2026, Decision, UPC_CFI_280/2025
A realistic starting point in the same technical field does not automatically render the claimed invention obvious (Art. 56 EPC, Art. 65(1)–(2) UPCA).: Even if prior art qualifies as a realistic starting point, it remains relevant for the inventive step assessment that it relates to a different kind of device and solves a different problem…
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Court of Appeal, March 30, 2026, Order, UPC_CFI_899/2025
Failing to contest jurisdiction in first instance forecloses the objection on appeal (Art. 26(1) Brussels I Recast, R. 19.7 RoP).: By not contesting the jurisdiction and competence of the Court in First Instance, the Defendant in first instance has in principle foregone this opportunity on appeal and cannot raise the alleged lack of jurisdiction and…
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LD Düsseldorf, March 16, 2026, Decision, UPC_CFI_733/2024, UPC_CFI_255/2025
Court adopts functional claim construction, rejecting narrow interpretations (Art. 69 EPC): The court found that a “switchable device” is not limited to mechanical optics but includes electronic controls. “Coupling” does not require free-space propagation, and a “different second laser beam” does not necessitate a separate laser source or different wavelength. This functional approach was decisive…
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Court of Appeal, March 6, 2026, Order, UPC_CoA_789/2025 and UPC_CoA_813/2025 – Provisional Measures for Hair Care Appliance Attachment Patent
Claim construction must balance function and structure: interpreting structural claim features solely by their function is insufficient; the physical and spatial configuration taught by the patent must equally be considered (Art. 69 EPC, Protocol on Interpretation).: In the specific case the Court of Appeal held that an “overlap” in the patent claim must be geometrically…
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LD Munich, January 13, 2026, Decision on the merits, UPC_CFI_628/2024; UPC_CFI_125/2025
Infringement of a medical device requires a potential use to be lege artis. A use that damages the device cannot establish infringement.: The claimant argued for an infringing use that required piercing the device’s mesh. The Court held this was not a proper, professional use but an emergency measure, and thus irrelevant for the infringement…
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LD Düsseldorf, October 31, 2025, order of the court of first instance, UPC_CFI_630/2025
Realization of technical effects and “inferior embodiments”: When an attacked embodiment realizes all structural features of a device claim and the claim does not require the realization of a particular technical effect, the claim is infringed regardless of whether the composition of the structural features in the attacked embodiment achieve a technical effect intended by…
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LD Hamburg, October 21, 2025, order in the proceedings for provisional measures, UPC_CFI_553/2025
Competence of LD Hamburg, Art. 33 (1) lit. a UPCA: imminent infringement: To establish jurisdiction, at least the plausible allegation of infringing acts in the country in question is necessary. A situation of imminent infringement may be characterised by certain circumstances which suggest that the infringement has not yet occurred, but that the potential infringer…
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CD Paris, July 28, 2025, decision in revocation action, UPC_CFI_239/2024
Claim construction: While terms used in patent documents should be given their normal meaning in the relevant art, the description and the drawings, when considered in the context of document’s contents and not in isolation, may give these terms a different meaning. In the case at hand, the Court affirmed, applying this principle, that according…
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Nordic-Baltic Regional Division, July 21, 2025, decision in first instance, UPC_CFI_380/2023
The patent claim is not only the starting point, but the decisive basis for determining the protective scope of a European patent: The importance of the patent claims means, inter alia, that a narrowing interpretation of the claims which deviates from the broader general understanding of the terms used therein by the person skilled in…
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LD Düsseldorf, June 16, 2025, decision on infringement, UPC_CFI_140/2024
Reference to dependent claims by the parties for the first time in the oral proceedings for the interpretation of the independent claims may not be late.: The interpretation of a patent claim is a matter of law. The Court must independently construe the claims. The first reference to (further) subclaims at the oral hearing may…
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LD Düsseldorf, May 13, 2025, decision on second medical use claims, UPC_CFI_505/2024 (sic!) [UPC_CFI_505/2023]
Requirements for the finding of infringement of second medical use claims: For a finding of infringement of second medical use claims, the claimant must show and prove (i) as an objective element, that there is either a prescription for use according to the patent, or at least additional circumstances showing that such use may be…
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UPC Court of Appeal, Order of April 30, 2025, UPC_CoA_768/2024
Claim construction principles: The interpretation of a patent claim is a matter of law. Therefore, the Court cannot leave the judicial task of interpreting the patent claim to an expert but has to construe the claim independently. The skilled person is a notional entity that cannot be equated with any real person in the technical…
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Court of Appeal, February 14, 2025, order on request for provisional measures, UPC_CoA_382/2024
Claim construction regarding means-plus-function features.: Means-plus-function features must be understood as any feature suitable for carrying out the function (headnote 1, para. 47). Added matter assessment.: General provisions: The Court must ascertain what the skilled person would derive directly and unambiguously using their common general knowledge and seen objectively and relative to the date of…
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LD Hamburg, February 19, 2025, Decision, UPC_CFI_58/2024
Interpretation of Claims: When interpreting a claim, in addition to its wording, the application instructions and express disclosures in the description of the patent specification must be taken into account (headnote 2). Division LD Hamburg UPC number UPC_CFI_58/2024 Type of proceedings Infringement proceedings (and counterclaim for revocation) Parties Claimant: Lionra Technologies Ltd. Defendants: Cisco Systems…
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