Paris local division revokes Michelin patent in Goodyear case

Michelin filed an infringement action at the Paris local division in February 2025. The patent was only valid in France at the time of the action. The company argued that its competitor Goodyear infringed its intellectual property rights with the car tyres Fuelmax D Endurance and the Fuelmax D GEN-2, which are offered and placed on the market by Goodyear in France. EP 2 323 858 protects a certain surface finish of car tyres. Michelin applied for the patent in 2008 together with Gérard Dossmann from Casalonga.

The claimant Michelin is a French company and a world leader in the manufacture of tyres for all types of vehicles. The defendant Goodyear Group is a global manufacturer of tyres which has its headquarters in the United States and is one of Michelin’s direct competitors.

Judges Camille Lignières, Carine Gillet, Stefan Johansson and Bernard Ledeboer decided to revoke the patent in its entirety. In the hearing, validity — in particular novelty and inventive step — was the most extensive topic of discussion. In their judgment, the judges explain in detail their view on the interpretation of the patent, the assessment of novelty and the inclusion of prior art (case IDs: UPC_CFI_138/2025 and UPC_CFI_522/2025).

If the proceedings go to second instance, it could be interesting to see whether the Court of Appeal follows this reasoning. However, JUVE Patent does not currently know whether Michelin will appeal. There have been no previous actions for a PI, which is not surprising in this highly competitive market.

Michelin must bear the legal costs of the proceedings. The judges postponed further cost allocation to separate proceedings.

Rare parties, well-known counsel

Goodyear worked with a team led by Thierry Lautier from Bird & Bird. This included Laurent Labatte, Marylis Clerc, and Osmane Caillemer du Ferrage from the Paris office, and Jean-Christophe Troussel and Domien Op de Beeck from the Brussels office.

Grégoire Desrousseaux (lead), Antoine Lerond, Anaïs Pallut, and Mayeul Ottaviani of August Debouzy represented Michelin. Desrousseaux had previously represented Michelin against BMW before the Cour d’appel de Paris in 2024 (case ID: 070/2024).

A publicly available judgment shows that Michelin has previously worked with other lawyers. For example, Sabine Agé from Hoyng ROKH Monegier represented Michelin in 2023 in proceedings against Continental at the Judicial Court Paris.