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UPC CFI 836/2024

Dec 23, 2024·EP4019790: NAIL FOR USE IN A NAIL SETTING DEVICE

Case details
Status
Case Closed
Action
Revocation
Category
Main Revocation Action
Parties
Claimants
Reps: Jochen Bühling (KRIEGER MES Partnerschaft mbB)
Respondents
Reps: Ralf Albrecht (Paul & Albrecht Patentanwälte PartG mbB)
Division
Munich CD
Judges
Technology
Industrial Manufacturing · Fasteners
Language
German
First decided
Nov 20, 2025
Claims
At issue1, 2, 3, 4, 6
Revoked1, 2, 3, 4, 6
Maintained1, 2, 5, 6
Amended1, 2
Notes: EP 4 019 790 partially revoked; claims 5 and 6 as granted not attacked and preserved unchanged; patent maintained in form of Auxiliary Request III (claims 1 and 2 amended); claims 3 and 4 per main request revoked.
Decisions
  • 2025-11-20
    Partially revokedRevocation meritsRevocation Action

    The Munich Central Division partially revoked EP 4 019 790 B1 for 17 Member States in revocation proceedings brought by BAUSSMANN against Raimund Beck, upholding the patent only as amended per Auxiliary Request III (with claims 5 and 6 unchanged), and dismissing the remaining revocation claim; costs were split 70/30 in favour of the claimant.

    Legal issues:Inventive stepNo retrospective assessment of inventive stepCommon general knowledgeScope of revocation actionAuxiliary requests admissibility
Documents
Document titleDatePublic
Order2025-11-20Public
action.phaseChange.caseClose2025-11-20Not public
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Decision2025-11-20Not public
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R 105-5 Anordnung2025-07-14Public
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Hearing Reference IC 11.07.20252025-07-14Not public
Hearing Reference IC 11.07.20252025-07-14Not public
Outcome of the Order2025-07-01Not public
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Coverage: Partial.Reasoning extracted with partial coverage — some sections may be incomplete.
Plain-English summary

BAUSSMANN Collated Fasteners GmbH brought a revocation action against Raimund Beck Nageltechnik GmbH's EP 4 019 790 B1 (a nail for use in a nail-setting device). The Munich Central Division partially revoked the patent for 17 member states, finding the granted independent claims (and Auxiliary Requests I and II) lacking inventive step, while upholding Auxiliary Request III (claims 1 and 2) together with the unchallenged claims 5 and 6. Costs were apportioned 70% to the patent owner and 30% to the claimant.

Accepted arguments
What the court agreed with — by party.

  • Claims 1–4 and 6 of EP 4 019 790 in their granted form lack inventive step over prior art

    ClaimantLegal basis: Art. 56 EPC; inventive step

    Note: Munich Central Division accepted BAUSSMANN's challenge to the main request and Auxiliary Requests I and II, finding independent claims 1 and 3 (and dependent claims derived therefrom) obvious over the prior art.

  • Retrospective assessment (hindsight) must be avoided when determining inventive step, even when relying on common general knowledge

    RespondentLegal basis: Art. 56 EPC; Headnote 1

    Note: Court accepted this principle and required the skilled person to have had a genuine incentive to arrive at the claimed subject matter from the prior art without benefit of hindsight.

  • Court and defendant are bound by the scope of the revocation action as defined by the claimant; non-attacked claims are immune

    RespondentLegal basis: Art. 76(1) UPCA; Headnote 2

    Note: Because BAUSSMANN chose not to attack claims 5 and 6 of the granted patent, those claims remained valid and the patent was maintained in amended form (Auxiliary Request III plus claims 5 and 6 unchanged).

Rejected arguments
What the court did not agree with — and why.

  • Main request (granted claims) should be maintained in full

    RespondentLegal basis: Art. 56 EPC

    Reason: Claims 3 and 6 of the main request were found not patentable (lack of inventive step / other grounds), rendering the main request and Auxiliary Requests I and II non-allowable.

  • Auxiliary Request I is allowable

    RespondentLegal basis: Art. 56 EPC

    Reason: Auxiliary Request I contained claim 3 which was equivalent to granted claim 6 and was thus not patentable for the same reasons.

  • Auxiliary Request II is allowable

    RespondentLegal basis: Art. 56 EPC

    Reason: Auxiliary Request II included independent claim 3 of the main request which was not allowable, making AUX II equally non-patentable.

Key legal principles
Doctrines and rules cited in the reasoning.
Inventive step assessment must avoid hindsight; the skilled person needs an incentive to arrive at the claimed subject matter from the prior artCommon general knowledge may be combined with prior art but the incentive requirement still appliesScope of revocation action is bounded by what the claimant attacks; non-attacked claims are insulatedPartial revocation: patent maintained in amended form (Auxiliary Request III) with claims 5 and 6 unchanged per Art. 65(3) UPCA

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