We have
learned from our good friend Aurelio López-Tarruella that
in a judgment given on 12 July 2012, in reply to a request for a preliminary
ruling submitted by the Dutch courts within the framework of an action for
infringement of a European patent by various parties (Case C-616/10), the
European Court of Justice has clarified the
scope of articles 6.1, 22.4 and 31 of Regulation No. 44/2001 on
jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and
commercial matters.
Two aspects
of the judgment warrant special mention:
First, the
ECJ allows that the special rule of jurisdiction laid down in article 6.1 of
Regulation No. 44/2001 may prevail over the general rule based on the
defendant’s domicile. For the ECJ the fact that actions for infringement of a
European patent should, according to article 64 of the EPC, be dealt with by
national law does not prevent the national court from deeming the different
claims brought before it to be connected and thus permitting article 6.1 of the
Regulation to kick in.
Second, the
ECJ confirms that in the context of a European patent infringement action where
the defendants have argued, by way of defence against the award of interim
relief, that the patent is invalid, article 22.4 of Regulation No. 44/2001
(relating to jurisdiction as to the substance) shall not preclude the application
of article 31 of that same Regulation (relating to jurisdiction over
provisional or protective measures). The court states that the two provisions
refer to different situations and have separate fields of application. Even so,
the ECJ allows that the court seised of the application for interim measures
may refuse such relief if it considers that there is a reasonable possibility
of the patent ultimately being declared invalid by the competent court.
Author: Enrique Armijo Chávarri
Visit our website: http://www.elzaburu.es/
An extension under Rule 134 applies to all periods under the EPC (see E-VIII, 1.1), including, in particular:
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the time limits for the filing of submissions, e.g. replies to EPO communications;
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