UPC_CFI_315/2024 – Labrador v bioMérieux
- Court
- Local Division Düsseldorf
- Date
- Outcome
- Granted
- Sector
- Other
- Decision Type
- PROCEDURAL
Expert Commentary
Summons to oral hearing Order of the JR The JR sets the oral hearing for 27 November 2025, announces closure of the written procedure on 7 November 2025, and indicates that for the moment she do not see the necessity of an interim conference. Comment 1. Is this decision a sign that this Labrador case is very straightforward, or is the Division in Düsseldorf overloaded with cases and unable to follow the way the Rules intended to organize proceedings? 2. Indeed, R. 35 RoP only says that following the written proceedings, the JR will inform the parties when they intend to close the written procedure, after which the interim procedure starts. However, the idea of this was certainly not to close the written procedure just shortly before the oral hearing. Clearly, if the oral argument is on 27 November 2025, there is de facto no interim procedure. That appears to be what the JR anticipates by stating that an interim conference is unnecessary. Not having an interim conference is not against the Rules of Procedure, because if the case is simple and the JR, after having studied the written exchanges, thinks that the case is ready for oral argument, such a conference does not make sense (although the idea of the interim conference is also to explore the possibility of settlement or for instance reaching agreement on costs). 3. However, the Rules of Procedure do not provide the possibility to completely skip the interim procedure. Under R. 110 RoP, as soon as the JR considers the file adequate for oral proceedings, the parties and the Presiding Judge are informed and the oral procedure starts. 4. So, in this case, the interim procedure starts only on 7 November 2025 and before 27 November 2025, the JR will close the interim procedure? 5. I note that until 7 November 2025, the parties can request to allow filing of further written statements. I hope and assume that any such request will be refused. If not, we are in fact almost completely back into the German national patent procedure. 6. This scheduling in very busy divisions (as Düsseldorf is) seems designed so the file has to be studied only once, close to the hearing. 7. That is all understandable, but not what the Rules intended. The Rules intended that almost as of day 1, at least the JR follows the procedure and can makes procedural decisions when necessary, ensuring quality of the decisions as the Court is informed on the case. The interim procedure ensures that oral proceedings can be focused and quality decisions can be delivered within 12-14 months. This week’s Court of Appeal decision in expert Klein v Seoul with respect to a decision by the Local Division Düsseldorf which shows the importance of thorough preparation of the oral hearing and making sure that judges are not overloaded with cases. 8. If representatives are unwilling to file in less busy Divisions, the sub-registry of the busy Division should warn those representatives, whose cases can also be heard by other Divisions, that there will not be a decision in 12-14 months. This is preferable over overestimating the capacity of the Division and forcing the Division to take shortcuts contrary to the intentions of the Rules. 9. If that does not result in better spread of the workload over the Divisions, the Agreement should be changed and the President of the Court of First Instance should be empowered to direct cases to different Divisions to assure the best use of the available capacity.
Full Decision Text
Düsseldorf Local Division UPC_CFI_315/2024 Procedural Order of the Court of First Instance issued on 26 September 2025 concerning EP 3 756 767 B1 CLAIMANT: Labrador Diagnostics LLC, represented by its Managers William Chan, Jonathan James, Erez Levy and Ami Patel Shah, 701 S. Carson Street, Suite 200, Carson City, 89701 Nevada, USA, represented by: Christof Höhne and all other UPC Representatives of EIP Eu- rope LLP including, in particular, Sebastian Fuchs, Matthew Blaseby, Darren Smyth (Breite Straße 29-31, 40213 Düssel- dorf, Germany and Fairfax House, 15 Fulwood Place, WC1V 6HU, London, United Kingdom), electronic address for service: chohne@eip.com DEFENDANTS: 1. bioMérieux SA, represented by its President and CEO Alexandre Mérieux,376 Chemin de l’Orme, 69280 Marcy l’Etoile, France, 2. bioMérieux Deutschland GmbH, represented by its Managing Director Alexandre Schneider, Weberstraße 8, 72622 Nürtingen, Germany, 3. bioMérieux Italia S.p.A., represented by its Directors Renato Porta, Efstathios Chorianopou- los, Alain Mérieux and Yasha Mirotti Ventura, Via di Campigliano 58, Ponte a Ema 50012 Bagno a Ripoli (FI) Italy, 4. bioMérieux Austria GmbH, represented by its Managing Director Alexandre Schneider and Valérie Sick, Harry-Glück-Platz 2/5, A-1100 Vienna, Austria, 5. bioMérieux Portugal, represented by its Managers Maria Antónia Ferreira Pica Nascimento, Pedro Hugo Di Rocco, Lapo Giacometti and Eric Marie Pierre Maillet,Lda., Av 25 de Abril de 1974, N°23-3, 2795-197 Linda-a-Velha, Portugal, 6. bioMérieux Benelux BV, represented by its Directors Vincent Marciniak and Denis Monnaie, Databankweg 26 NL, 3821 AL Amersfoort, Netherlands, 1 represented by: Benjamin Husband and Agathe Michel-de Cazotte, Carpmaels & Ransford LLP, One Southampton Row, London WC1B 5HA, United Kingdom, electronic address for service: ben.husband@carpmaels.com (Defendant 1.) #CR_U010328UC@carpmaels.com (Defendants 2. to 6.) PATENT AT ISSUE: European patent n° 3 756 767 B1 PANEL/DIVISION: Panel of the Local Division in Düsseldorf DECIDING JUDGES: This order was issued by Judge Dr Thom acting as judge-rapporteur. LANGUAGE OF THE PROCEEDINGS: English SUBJECT OF THE PROCEEDINGS: R. 108 RoP- Summons to the oral hearing ORDER: 1. It is hereby ordered that the parties, who will be represented by representatives (R. 8.2, 108 RoP), be summoned to the oral hearing (R. 209.1 (b) RoP), which will take place on Thursday, 27 November 2025, 09.30 CET, Courtroom BZ 5, in the premises of the Düsseldorf Local Division, Cecilienallee 3, 40474 Düsseldorf. 2. The written procedure shall be closed by 7 November 2025. 3. Currently, it is not intended to hold an interim conference. 4. If there is a discrepancy between the dates/times in this order and those provided by the CMS, the information in the order shall prevail. DETAILS OF THE ORDER: UPC-Number: UPC_CFI_315/2024 Subject of the Proceedings: Patent infringement action 2 Issued in Düsseldorf on 26 September 2025 NAMES UND SIGNATURES Anna Digital unterschrieben von Anna Bérénice Dr. Legally qualified Judge Dr Thom Bérénice THOM Datum: 2025.09.26 Dr. THOM 15:37:45 +02'00' 3 SERVICE OF THE ORDER: This order shall be served on the representatives of the parties, R. 276.1, 271 RoP. INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORAL HEARING HELD IN THE COURT: The oral hearing shall be open to the public unless the Court decides to make it, to the extent necessary, confidential in the interests of one or both parties or third parties or in the general interest of justice or public order (R. 115 RoP). INFORMATION ABOUT AUDIO RECORDING: The oral hearing shall be audio recorded. The recording shall be made available at the premises of the Court to the parties or their representatives after the oral hearing (R. 115 RoP). TECHNICAL INFORMATION ON THE PARTICIPATION IN THE ORAL HEARING: 1. The parties are requested to inform the Sub-Registry at the Düsseldorf Local Division (con- tact_dusseldorf.loc@unifiedpatentcourt.org) by 10 November 2025 at the latest of the names and qualifications of each person who will participate in the oral hearing. 2. Representatives and other participants of the parties who will attend the oral hearing online have to ensure that their video-conference equipment enables participation in the video conference using the Cisco Webex Meeting Solution. Those participants will also need to ensure that, in addition to the technical equipment, the acoustic and light of the room are adapted to perform videoconferencing. The Link to the video conference will be sent separately by the Sub-Registry at the Düsseldorf Local Division. Representatives and other online participants are encouraged to set up a test call with the Sub-Registry at the Local Division in Düsseldorf well before the oral hearing takes place. The contact details for arranging such a test call is the following: +49 211 4971 787 / -789 or contact_dusseldorf.loc@unifiedpatentcourt.org. 3. Under the conditions laid down in R. 109 RoP, the parties are entitled to request simultane- ous interpretation. INFORMATION ABOUT THE ABSENCE OR DELAY OF A REPRESENTATIVE: A decision by default may be given, upon request, against a party that was duly summoned but fails to appear at the oral hearing (R. 355.1 (b) RoP). 4 Important Notes Security control: The Düsseldorf Local Division is located on the premises of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. Security checks will be carried out there. Only visitors who can prove their identity with a valid identity card or passport will be admitted, foreigners with a valid identity card. It is to be expected that there will be some waiting time at the security checkpoint. Route description: Public Transport: From „Düsseldorf Hbf.“ resp. „Heinrich-Heine-Allee“ on the underground trains U78 direction „Düsseldorf Merkur Spiel- Arena/Messe Nord“ or U79 direction „Düsseldorf-Wittlaer“ or „Duisburg-Meiderich Bf“ to underground station „ERGO- Platz/Klever Straße“, exit „Oberlandesgericht“. Keep left and then straight ahead until you reach Cecilienallee, turn left there about 50 metres. Car: Parking in the vicinity of the Higher Regional Court is shown in the diagram above. Due to the cramped parking situation, it is likely that there will not be a sufficient number of spaces avail- able in the immediate vicinity. Further information can be found on the internet at www.olg- duesseldorf.nrw.de 5
Key Holdings
- Oral hearing set with very short interim procedure window.
- Interim conference deemed unnecessary.
- Concerns raised about case management shortcuts in busy divisions.
Tags
- Case Management
- Interim Measures
- Oral Hearing
- Procedural Efficiency