Applicant: Nicoventures Juul v NJOY (UPC CoA_5/2025)

Decision date:

25 April 2025

Court

Court of Appeal

Patent

EP 3 498 115

Full decision available here:

Osborne Clarke summary

Nicoventures filed an application requesting access to all written pleadings and evidence in an appeal submitted by Juul Labs and NJOY on the basis that it was a party to legal proceedings concerning the validity of the patent in issue. Nicoventures had opposed the grant of the patent in issue before the EPO, which resulted in the patent being revoked by the Opposition Division, with an appeal pending before the Boards of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal granted the request, permitting Nicoventures access to the documents in the casefile at the time the application was made (subject to the redaction of personal data).
Access was granted with conditions: i) Nicoventures was not allowed to file the written pleadings, or parts thereof, with other courts or judicial instances, such as the EPO Boards of Appeal, or ii) distribute them elsewhere until the present appeal had been adjudicated or otherwise closed.
Nicoventures' request for any additional documentation not available at the time of the application but subsequently filed in the proceedings was rejected. Blanket requests for written pleadings or evidence that may be added to the casefile after comments, or after the decision granting or denying access has been issued, were not admissible.

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