UPC APP 54506/2024

Düsseldorf Local Division procedural order on FUJIFILM's request for permission to file additional written pleadings (R. 36 RoP) to respond to Kodak's right-of-prior-use defence in patent infringement proceedings. The court set out the test: the court must consider the reasons given for the necessity of further pleadings, but also the effect on the proceedings and the risk of delay. A claimant has only one opportunity under the standard timetable to address a prior-use defence, but R. 36 provides a safety valve.