UPC_CFI_757/2024 – Ericsson v Asustek
- Court
- Local Division Lisbon
- Date
- Outcome
- Granted
- Sector
- Other
- Decision Type
- PROCEDURAL
Expert Commentary
No bifurcation The Court 1. No bifurcation. 2. Asks the President of the Court of First Instance to appoint a Technical Judge. 3. Sets the date for the interim conference on 22 January 2026. 4. Sets the date for the oral hearing on 25 March 2026. Comment The panel is the same (except for the Technical Judge) panel that, in PI proceedings, held there was no urgency, but provided an obiter dictum that the patent was infringed. The panel's expectation may have been that, after that obiter dictum, the parties would settle. That was not the case. It will be interesting to see what the decision of that same panel will be, but now with a Technical Judge in the proceedings on the merits.
Full Decision Text
1 ORDER of the Court of First Instance of the Unified Patent Court Local Division in Lisbon delivered on 28 July 2025 APPLICANT TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON 21 Torshamnsgatan, Kista, 164 83 Stockholm, Sweden. represented by Mr. Wim Maas DEFENDANT ASUSTEK COMPUTER INC 15, Lide Road, Beitou Dist.., Taipei City 112019, Taiwan. represented by Mr. Alex Wilson PATENT AT ISSUE: EUROPEAN PATENT NO EP 2 819 131 B1 PANEL/DECIDING JUDGE: Presiding judge and Judge-rapporteur: Rute Lopes Legally Qualified Judge: Petri Rinkinen Legally Qualified Judge: Samuel Granata LANGUAGE OF THE PROCEEDINGS: English SUBJECT-MATTER OF THIS ORDER R. 28, 33, 37.1, 2 RoP LISBON – LOCAL DIVISION UPC_CFI_757/2024 ACT_63643/2024 2 GROUNDS FOR THE ORDER 1. Following order dated 14 July 2025, both parties have agreed on: - The appointment of a Technically Qualified Judge. - That infringement and counterclaim are heard together. 2. The Court has no arguments against this. 3. Both parties requested that the Oral Hearing be held on another date and, following notification from the Registry, indicated their availability on 25 March 2026. 4. According to the CMS, both the Statement of Defence and Counterclaim for Revocation were served on the claimant on 26 June 2025. In that regard, there is no need to take a position on the alignment of the dates for the Claimant to lodge the Reply to Defence and Defence to Counterclaim and any Application to Amend the Patent as requested by the Defendant. ORDER 1. Allocation of a Technically Qualified Judge The Court will request the president of the Court of First Instance to allocate a Technically Qualified Judge in the relevant field. 2. Interim Conference The interim conference will be held via videoconference on 22 January 2026 at 9:30 (Lisbon time). Parties are invited to suggest topics for the interim conference by 6 January 2026. 3. Oral Hearing The Oral Hearing will be held in person, on 25 March 2026, in the Local Division of Lisbon (Courtroom), at 9:30 (Lisbon time). 4. Counterclaim The panel will proceed with both the infringement action and the counterclaim for revocation. 3 RUTE LOPES PRESIDENT AND JUDGE RAPPORTEUR PETRI RINKINEN LEGALLY QUALIFIED JUDGE SAMUEL GRANATA LEGALLY QUALIFIED JUDGE ORDER DETAILS UPC Number: UPC_CFI_757/2024 Action type: ACT_63643/2024
Key Holdings
- Bifurcation denied.
- Technical Judge appointment requested.
- Interim conference and oral hearing dates set.
Tags
- Bifurcation
- Case Management
- Technically Qualified Judge