Alpina and Torggler & Hofmann win first UPC hearing at Vienna local division
The UPC local division in Vienna impressed in its first hearing by issuing a quick decision in preliminary injunction proceedings. Patent holder CUP&CINO was unable to obtain a PI for its technology for milk frothers against competitor Alpina.
14 September 2023 by Christina Schulze
In keeping with the traditional Viennese coffeehouse culture and the famous coffee speciality Wiener Melange, the first hearing at the Unified Patent Court’s local division in Vienna revolved around a patent protecting a technology for milk frothers. The defendant even demonstrated the technology at the hearing.
Once you sue, you can’t opt out
After a three-hour hearing and a short break, the judges announced that Alpina did not infringe CUP&CINO’s patent EP 3 398 487. The length of one of the tubes in the apparatus was central to the case.
The decision was preceded by an interesting basic clarification on the opt-out of patents. After CUP&CINO had filed the preliminary injunction action, an appointed patent attorney falsely declared an opt-out for EP 3 398 487. The judges have now clarified that this is no longer possible once a party has filed a suit.
Thus, patents for which a lawsuit has been filed can no longer be opted out of the UPC. The patent attorney in question was not present at the hearing.
A new instruction
Thomas Adocker
Patent owner CUP&CINO instructed Taylor Wessing lawyer Thomas Adocker for the first time for the UPC proceedings, as well as patent attorney Andreas Gehring from Puchberger & Partner. In May 2023, Adocker joined Taylor Wessing from Schwarz Schönherr.
Defendant Alpina relied on its long-standing patent attorney firm Torggler & Hofmann, without involving litigators.
In Vienna, the local division also dispensed with a technical judge. This is at the discretion of the judges in PI proceedings if neither party requests the use of a technical judge.
In addition to presiding judge Walter Schober, Freiburg professor Maximilian Haedicke, and former Dutch lawyer and patent attorney András Kupecz were on the bench. The latter is also a judge at the UPC’s Munich local division, where he also participated in the first hearing.
Florian Robl, Markus Gangl
For CUP&CINO
Taylor Wessing (Vienna): Thomas Adocker (partner)
Puchberger & Partner (Vienna): Andreas Gehring (partner)
For Alpina
Torggler & Hofmann (Innsbruck): Markus Gangl, Florian Robl (both patent attorneys, both partners)
Unified Patent Court, Vienna local division
Walter Schober (presiding judge), Maximilian Haedicke, András Kupecz
