UPC_CFI_368/2024
ROTARY ELECTRIC MACHINE EQUIPPED WITH A MEANS OF ADJUSTING THE ANGULAR POSITION OF THE SHAFT
Valeo Electrification (France) obtained a preliminary injunction against Magna PT entities (Germany/Slovakia/France) prohibiting sale and use of certain electric motor generators and the 7HDT400 gearbox incorporating them in Germany and France, based on EP 3 320 604 B1 relating to a rotary electric machine with adjustable shaft angular position. The court rejected Magna's procedural challenges including a request to replace the technically qualified judge and a rectification application aimed at expanding a BMW model exception in the injunction order. The PI was conditioned on Valeo providing a EUR 2.5 million bank guarantee.
Valeo is entitled to sue as registered patent proprietor under rebuttable presumption (R. 8.5(c) RoP)
KlägerRechtsgrundlage: R. 8.5(c) RoP; Art. 47 UPCAHinweis: Court held that the registered proprietor enjoys a strong presumption of entitlement which can only be rebutted in PI proceedings if title is manifestly erroneous.
Defendants' failure to bring a vindication action in due time bars them from relying on bad-faith of applicant in weighing of interests
KlägerRechtsgrundlage: R. 211 RoP; general principles of proportionalityHinweis: Magna claimed Valeo had unlawfully appropriated the patent; court rejected this as a factor in the balance of interests because no vindication action was timely brought before national courts.
Urgency is assessed holistically from the applicant's overall conduct, not by a fixed deadline
KlägerRechtsgrundlage: R. 211.4 RoPHinweis: Court confirmed there is no rigid deadline for filing a PI application; the question is whether the applicant's conduct as a whole shows enforcement is not urgent.
Patent validity likelihood must be assessed on the specific patent in suit, not general revocation statistics
KlägerRechtsgrundlage: Art. 62 UPCAHinweis: Court held that general revocation rate data is irrelevant; only the specific patent's strength matters.
Applicant acted in bad faith by unlawfully appropriating the patent, warranting denial of PI
BeklagterBegründung: Defendants failed to bring a vindication action before national courts in due time, and therefore cannot rely on the alleged bad faith in the weighing of interests.
Application for rectification: '2 Series Gran Coupé' model omitted from BMW exception list by obvious slip
BeklagterRechtsgrundlage: R. 353 RoPBegründung: Model was not introduced into proceedings before the rectification application and was never mentioned at the oral hearing, so its absence from the order cannot constitute an obvious slip under R. 353 RoP.
Review of allocation of technically qualified judge to obtain one with mechanical engineering expertise
BeklagterRechtsgrundlage: Art. 7.4 UPCA; R. 185.2 RoPBegründung: Parties have no right to request a specific technical background for a technically qualified judge; the only permissible ground for objection to a judge is partiality under Art. 7.4 UPCA.
Weitere Fälle zu diesem Grundsatz ansehen.