UPC_CFI_743/2024, – Fapa Vital v Valentis Baltic
- Court
- Nordic-Baltic Regional Division
- Date
- Outcome
- Settled
- Sector
- Pharma/Bio
- Decision Type
- SETTLEMENT
Expert Commentary
Settlement Decision The Court declares the PI proceedings closed. Although R. 370.9(b) and (c) refer to “Action” with respect to reimbursement of fees, the Court applies this also to the withdrawal of an “Application” for a PI and awards a 60% reimbursement (which is in line with decisions of the LD Düsseldorf and the LD Munich). Comment It is clear that no party will appeal such a decision. Quite frankly, I cannot see a justification for such reimbursement, which is not to be found in R. 370 RoP. A demand for a PI requires different (more urgent) actions of the Court and the stages of these proceedings are uncertain, basically depending of the urgency. The fee is very moderate. I do not see any reason to reimburse fees.
Full Decision Text
1 Nordic-Baltic Regional Division UPC_ CFI_743/2024 Decision of the Court of First Instance of the Unified Patent Court delivered on 27 February 2025 Headnote: The provisions on reimbursement of Court fees can be applied by analogy when an application for provisional measures is withdrawn. Keywords: withdrawal, provisional measures, reimbursement of Court fees APPLICANT Fapa Vital AG, Eschnerstrasse 64, 9487 Gamprin-Bendern, Lichtenstein Represented by Michael Woller DEFENDANT Valentis Baltic, UAB, Molėtų pl. 11, 08409 Vilnius, Lithuania Represented by Tjibbe Douma PATENT AT ISSUE EP 1 978 949 DIVISION Nordic- Baltic Regional Division COMPOSITION OF PANEL – FULL PANEL Stefan Johansson Presiding judge and judge-rapporteur Kai Härmand Legally qualified judge Marije Knijff Legally qualified judge LANGUAGE OF THE PROCEEDINGS English 2 SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE PROCEEDINGS Withdrawal of application for provisional measures and reimbursement of Court fees GROUNDS FOR THE DECISION Closure of the proceeding The Applicant has informed the Court that the Parties have reached a settlement and submitted an application to withdraw its application for provisional measures. Since the settlement also covers the costs of the proceedings, the Applicant has requested the Court to declare the proceedings closed without issuing a cost decision. The Defendant has informed the Court that it consents to the withdrawal of the proceedings without a cost decision. For these reasons, the proceedings shall be declared closed and the decision shall be entered on the register. Since the Parties’ settlement covers the costs of the proceedings and they prefer that the Court does not issue a cost decision, the Court will refrain from deciding on costs. Since the value of a proceeding on provisional measures only is relevant for determining the ceiling for recoverable costs (cf. Rule 152.3 RoP) and the Parties prefer that the Court does not issue a cost decision in this case, the Court will also refrain from deciding on the value of the proceeding. Reimbursement of Court fees The Applicant has, with reference to the settlement and withdrawal, requested the Court to reimburse 60 % of the Court fees and argued as follows. The Application has been withdrawn before the closure of the written procedure. As as consequence, the Applicant should be reimbursed 60 % of the Court fees, i.e. EUR 6,600 out of EUR 11,000 total court fees (RoP 370.9 (b) and (c)). According to Rule 370.9 (b) and (c) RoP, fixed and value-based fees may be reimbursed as follows: (b) In case of the withdrawal of an action [Rule 265] the party liable for the Court fees will be reimbursed by: (i) 60 % if the action is withdrawn before the closure of the written procedure (ii) 40 % if the action is withdrawn before the closure of the interim procedure (iii) 20 % if the action is withdrawn before the closure of the oral procedure (c) If the parties have concluded their action by way of settlement the party liable for the Court fees will be reimbursed by: (i) 60 % if the action is settled before the closure of the written procedure (ii) 40 % if the action is settled before the closure of the interim procedure (iii) 20 % if the action is settled before the closure of the oral procedure. This provision explicitly refer to the withdrawal of an Action, i.e. not an Application, and it is based on the assumption that the case is subject to three different stages (written, interim and oral 3 procedure), which is not the case with an application for provisional measures. For these reasons, the provision is not directly applicable when an application for provisional measures is withdrawn. However, the Court have previously found that this regulatory gap must be unintended and that the provisions on reimbursement in Rule 370.9 (b) RoP should be applied by analogy when an application for provisional measures is withdrawn (see e.g. Order 61204/2024, issued by Munich LD on 15 November 2024 in case CFI_515/2024; cf. Decision 39595/2024, issued by Düsseldorf LD on 3 July 2024 in case CFI 133/2024). There is no reason for a different interpretation in this case. The application was withdrawn before the the closure of the written procedure. Therefore, 60 % of the Court fees, i.e. EUR 6 600 out of EUR 11 000, shall be reimbursed. DECISION 1. The Court declares these proceedings closed. 2. The decision on the closure of the proceedings to be entered on the register. 3. The Court shall reimburse the Applicant EUR 6 600, which is 60 % of the Court fees paid by the Applicant in these proceedings. ----------------- Issued in Stockholm on 27 February 2025 Stefan Johansson Presiding judge and judge-rapporteur Kai Härmand Legally qualified judge Marije Knijff Legally qualified judge Johanna Mikkola Jäghammar Clerk / For the Deputy-registrar ORDER DETAILS Order: ORD_9485/2025 UPC number: UPC_ CFI_743/2024 Application for provisional measures: ACT_63292/2024 Application for leave to withdraw an action (RoP265): App_7494/2025 Application for reimbursement of Court fees: App_7498/2025
Key Holdings
- The UPC applies fee reimbursement rules (R. 370.9(b) and (c) RoP) to the withdrawal of preliminary injunction (PI) applications, not just full "Actions."
- A 60% reimbursement of court fees can be awarded upon settlement and withdrawal of a PI application, aligning with practices in other Local Divisions.
- The commentator questions the justification for fee reimbursement in PI cases, citing the urgent nature and moderate fees.
Tags
- Court Fees
- Preliminary Injunction
- Procedural Issues
- Rules of Procedure
- Settlement