TEXPORT v Sioen (UPC_CFI_9/2024)
Decision date:
31 July 2025
Osborne Clarke summary
- This case involved the substantive hearing of an infringement action brought by TEXPORT. Preliminary issues regarding jurisdiction were previously dealt with by the Nordic-Baltic RD.
- The patent in suit related to a fabric structure for protective clothing, in particular for firefighting jackets and trousers. The structure was made up of layers of different fabrics, which included a layer of fabric with a "waffle structure". The attacked embodiments were two different firefighting suits, which both contained a protective fabric structure. These suits were marketed and sold by Sioen.
- Sioen disputed that TEXPORT had the legal standing to bring the infringement claim as it was not the proprietor of the patent. TEXPORT claimed that it was the exclusive licensee to the patent, which Sioen disputed. However, shortly before TEXPORT's statement of claim was filed, it submitted a document wherein the proprietor of the patent confirmed that TEXPORT was the exclusive licensee to the patent. The court found that this evidence was sufficient to establish standing.
- When construing the relevant claims, the parties disagreed on the interpretation of "waffle structure". TEXPORT argued that a wider interpretation was appropriate, encompassing any fabric having a three-dimensional structure resembling a waffle. Sioen argued that the term should be interpreted narrowly to mean a particular method of knitting the fabric. The court preferred TEXPORT's interpretation, finding that nothing in the patent justified limiting the interpretation to particular knitting technologies.
- The court found that Sioen had infringed TEXPORT's patent at least in Latvia and Portugal through the manufacture and sale of its products. Among other remedies, the court issued an injunction covering the UPC contracting member states in which the patent was in force, interim damages, and ordered that a full assessment of damages would take place at a subsequent hearing.
Issue
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