Amazon Europe & Ors v Nokia Technologies (UPC_CoA_835/2024)
Decision date:
20 January 2025
Court
Court of Appeal
Patent
EP 2 661 892
Osborne Clarke summary
- Amazon made an application requesting that certain passages relating to its appeal be designated as restricted to a certain group of people. The Court of Appeal rejected the application because the information intended to be protected was already covered by a confidentiality order from the Munich LD.
- In accordance with the case law of the Court of Appeal, an order from the Court of First Instance that has not been challenged on appeal and that restricts access to certain information or evidence to specific persons remains in effect after the conclusion of the proceedings and thus also extends to any appeal proceedings (unless otherwise specified in the order).
- In a further procedural order, the Court of Appeal ordered that the relevant information classified as confidential must be treated as confidential by anyone who becomes aware of it during the proceedings. The Court stated that the information may not be used or disclosed outside of the proceedings unless the knowledge was itself obtained outside of the proceedings. Furthermore, the obligation of confidentiality would continue to apply after the conclusion of the court proceedings, unless the information became otherwise known or readily accessible to persons who typically have access to such information. In the case of any breach of the confidentiality obligation, the court may impose a recurring penalty payment of up to €250,000 for each contravention.
Issue
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