Unified Patent Court
Local Division Munich
Einheitliches Patentgericht
Juridiction unifiee du brevet
UPC_CFI_498/2023
Procedural Order
of the Court of First Instance of the Unified Patent Court
in the main proceedings related to European Patent 3 057 321
delivered on 09/05/2024
Date of receipt of Statement of claim: 22/12/2023
| TCL | Statement | of claim | served on | 23/02/2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deutschland | GmbH & Co. KG | (Defendant) | ||
| Am Seestern 4 | 40547 | Düsseldorf | DE |
| TCL Industrial | Statement | of claim | served on | 24/03/2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holdings Co., | Ltd. | (Defendant) | ||
| 22/F, TCL | Technology | Building, 17 | Huifeng 3rd | Road, Huizhou, |
| - 516000 - | Guangdong, | - CN |
| TCT Mobile | Statement | of claim | served on | 23/03/2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | GmbH | (Defendant) | ||
| Am Seestern 4 | 40547 | Düsseldorf | DE |
| TCT Mobile | Statement | of claim | served on | 23/03/2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe SAS | (Defendant) | |||
| 55 Avenue des | Champs | Pierreux |
92000 - Nanterre - FR
Defendants
TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd.
5/F, Building 22E, Science Park East Avenue, Hong Kong Science Park, - 00000 - Sha-tin, Hong Kong - CN
TCL Operations Polska Sp. z.o.o
ul. A. Mickiewicza 31/41 - 96-300 - Zyrardow - PL
TCL Overseas Marketing Ltd.
13/F TCL Tower Tai Chung Road Tsuen Wan, New Territories - 00000 - Hong Kong - CN
Applicant/s
- TCT Mobile Europe SAS
Represented by Ralph Nack
55 Avenue des Champs Pierreux - 92000 - Nanterre - FR
2) TCT Mobile Germany GmbH
Represented by Ralph Nack (Applicant) - Am Seestern 4 - 40547 - Düsseldorf - DE
3) TCL Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
Represented by Ralph Nack (Applicant) - Am Seestern 4 - 40547 - Düsseldorf - DE
4) TCL Operations Polska Sp. z.o.o
Represented by Ralph Nack (Applicant) - ul. A. Mickiewicza 31/41 - 96-300 Zyrardow - PL
RELEVANT PROCEEDING PARTIES
1) NEC Corporation
(Main proceeding party - Claimant) - 7-1 Shiba 5-chome Minato-ku - 108-8001 - Tokyo - JP
2) TCL Industrial Holdings Co., Ltd.
(Main proceeding party - Defendant) - 22/F, TCL Technology Building, 17 Huifeng 3rd Road, Huizhou, - 516000 - Guangdong, -
3) TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd.
(Main proceeding party - Defendant) - 5/F, Building 22E, Science Park East Avenue, Hong Kong Science Park, - 00000 - Sha-tin, Hong Kong - CN
4) TCL Overseas Marketing Ltd.
(Main proceeding party - Defendant) - 13/F TCL Tower Tai Chung Road Tsuen Wan, New Territories - 00000 - Hong Kong - CN
PATENT AT ISSUE
| Patent no. | Proprietor/s |
|---|---|
| EP3057321 | NEC Corporation |
DECIDING JUDGE
COMPOSITION OF PANEL – FULL PANEL
Presiding judge and Judge-rapporteur: Matthias Zigann
Legally qualified judge: Tobias Pichlmaier
Legally qualified judge: Andras Kupecz
The order was made by Presiding Judge Matthias Zigann, acting as Judge-Rapporteur.
LANGUAGE OF PROCEEDINGS
English
SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE PROCEEDINGS
Patent infringement; here: missing or wrong appendixes in the statement of claim
STATEMENT OF THE FORMS OF ORDER SOUGHT BY THE PARTIES
Defendants 1, 3, 6 and 6 request:
The Plaintiff is ordered to submit to the Defendants the HEVC standard version which it refers to on page 51 of its Statement of Claim dated 22 December 2023.
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The statement of claim was lodged on 22/12/2023. Service was effected on defendant 1 on 23/02/2024, on defendant 3 on 24/03/2024 and on defendants 4 and 6 on 23/03/2024. Service on defendants 2, 5 and 7 is still to be effected.
By letter of 08/05/2024, the representative of defendants 1, 3, 4 and 6 informed the Court that the plaintiff had failed to provide substantial evidence of the alleged infringement in his statement of claim of 22/12/2023. The plaintiff did not provide any version of the HEVC standard. The allegedly relevant standard version submitted as Annex BP 6 does not show the HEVC standard, but its predecessor, the AVC standard.
Representative of plaintiff proactively informed the Court by email on 08/05/2024 that the irrelevant AVC standard had in fact been inadvertently submitted in all three proceedings instead of the HEVC standard. The correct standard will be uploaded to the CMS as soon as the Court grants the opportunity to amend the pleadings. Therefore, a final order could be issued without first inviting comments from the applicant.
GROUNDS FOR THE ORDER
The plaintiff should be ordered to provide the correct standard version. This can be done by filing an amended version of the statement of claim. In doing so, the plaintiff may also amend any other information that will facilitate service on defendants 2, 5 and 7.
The parties are reminded that the time limit for lodging the statement of defence may be extended accordingly for defendants 1, 3, 4 and 6 upon request. This can be conveniently dealt with in workstream App_24843/2024 in connection with a request by the plaintiff to shorten the time limit for defendants 3, 4 and 6 to 23/05/2024.
ORDER
Plaintiff is ordered to amend the statement of claim accordingly within 10 days.
Dr. Zigann
Presiding Judge and Judge-rapporteur
ORDER DETAILS
| Order no. | ORD_26426/2024 |
|---|---|
| Action NUMBER: | ACT_596658/2023 |
| UPC number: | UPC_CFI_498/2023 |
| Action type: | Infringement Action |
| Related proceeding no. | Application No.: 26104/2024 |
| Application Type: | Generic procedural Application |