Fujifilmv Kodak & Ors (UPC_CFI_365/2023)
Decision date:
02 April 2025
Osborne Clarke summary
- Fujifilm alleged that the defendants had infringed its patent relating to planographic printing plates, which was still in force in Germany and the UK (all other parts had lapsed before the UPCA entered into force). The defendants counterclaimed for revocation. This decision dealt with infringement of the German part. The UK part was subject to separate proceedings, but a request for a UK interim injunction was rejected in the meantime.
- The court found that the UPC had no jurisdiction over the national parts of UPCA member states that had already lapsed before 1 June 2023. The same reasoning applied to national parts of non-UPCA-member states.
- The patent was found to be valid and infringed. The defendants were not able to rely on a prior use defence as the facts that had been submitted in the statement of defence and counterclaim did not sufficiently substantiate that the defendants' printing plate precursors on which they relied were publicly available before the relevant priority date.
Issue
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