UPC CFI 173/2024

Patent EP 2 642 632 in its main claim form is invalid for lack of novelty/inventive step

Hinweis: The Hamburg Local Division upheld Xiaomi's invalidity attack, finding the patent as granted could not be maintained in its original form; the infringement action was dismissed as a result.

Intermediate generalisation constitutes inadmissible extension where a term in the claim wording was dropped that was still present in the requested version

Hinweis: The court found that dropping a term present in the requested version but not in the final claim constitutes an inadmissible intermediate generalisation, establishing added-matter as a ground for invalidity.

Prior art with comparable function but different application field (NFC antenna resonance frequency) does not constitute prior art the skilled person would consider for solving the problem of the wireless power receiver patent

Hinweis: The court held that a document directed to adjusting resonance frequency of an antenna in NFC receivers is in a different field from building a wireless power receiver for charging, so the skilled person would not consult it when seeking a solution to the problem posed by the patent in suit.

Patent as granted is valid and infringed by Xiaomi's wireless charging products

Begründung: The patent in its main claim form was found invalid, requiring amendment to auxiliary requests 1 and 2; in the amended form the specific accused Xiaomi products were not found to infringe.

Number of auxiliary requests is unduly burdensome on defendants

Begründung: The court held that where the core of the auxiliary requests is small, even a high number of requests does not pose an unreasonable burden on the opposing party under R. 30.1(c) RoP.