ACT_23636/2024
An unnamed applicant (proprietor of a herbicide composition patent) obtained a preliminary injunction from the Munich Local Division against respondents manufacturing and distributing the 'Kagura' herbicide product, covering multiple UPC contracting states. The court established key procedural principles: that product composition claims require proof only that the composition has all claim features (not why), that cross-border distribution combined with domestic advertising creates risk of first infringement, and that only a cease-and-desist declaration with a penalty clause (not an actus contrarius) sufficiently eliminates infringement risk. The Munich Local Division maintained its two-month temporal urgency window, diverging from Düsseldorf's one-month approach.
For a product composition claim, it is sufficient to allege and prove the composition had all features of the claim; applicant need not explain why the composition had those features
ClaimantLegal basis: Art. 25 UPCANote: The Munich Local Division held that the burden of pleading and proof for a product composition claim requires only demonstrating the composition's features, not explaining the mechanism or reason those features are present.
Distributing infringing composition outside contracting states while advertising under the same name within contracting states creates risk of first infringement within contracting states
ClaimantLegal basis: Art. 62(1) UPCANote: The court found that cross-border distribution and advertising under the same product name creates a legally cognisable risk of first infringement in contracting states where the patent is valid.
Cease-and-desist declaration without penalty clause is insufficient to eliminate risk of first infringement; actus contrarius not sufficient
ClaimantNote: The court held that only a cease-and-desist declaration with a penalty clause adequately eliminates risk of first infringement; an actus contrarius alone is insufficient.
Temporal urgency of two months applies (Munich Local Division practice)
ClaimantLegal basis: R. 211.4 RoPNote: The Munich Local Division adhered to its two-month urgency window, diverging from the Düsseldorf Local Division's one-month approach, citing diverging case law.
Application for seizure of goods should be maintained in full
ClaimantReason: The applicant partially withdrew the seizure application; the remaining injunction application was successful.
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The patent claim was directed to a herbicidal composition comprising at least one sulfonylurea herbicide, at least one HPPD-inhibiting herbicide, and at least one saturated or unsaturated fatty acid from 1% to 95% by weight. The claim construction issue was primarily about what the applicant must prove for a composition claim (that the composition has all claimed features), not what mechanism produced those features.