UPC Court of Appeal puts an end to the egg packaging dispute

Danish packaging manufacturer Hartmann Packaging and its German competitor Omni-pac have been in dispute over EP 2 755 901 at the Unified Patent Court for more than two years. In March 2024, Hartmann brought an infringement action against two Omni-pac entities at the Düsseldorf local division, targeting the ComPac egg packs distributed for 6, 10 or 12 eggs. Omni-pac responded with a counterclaim seeking revocation.

But now the UPC Court of Appeal has put an end to the dispute by rejecting Hartmann’s infringement claim (case IDs: UPC_CoA_908/2025, UPC_CoA_909/2025 and UPC_CoA_918/2025).

The second panel, presided over by judge Rian Kalden and comprising judge rapporteur Ingeborg Simonsson, has now largely confirmed the findings of the Düsseldorf local division at first instance. Patricia Rombach, together with technically qualified judges Elisabetta Papa and Erwin Wismeth, complete the panel.

In October 2025, the Düsseldorf local division dismissed Hartmann’s infringement action and partially revoked the patent. Claim 1 of EP 901 as granted lacked inventive step over the prior art EP 1 389 590, but was upheld in amended form in accordance with Hartmann’s second auxiliary request. The court upheld method claim 6 as granted. Both parties lodged appeals.

EP 901 covers a display and distribution package for eggs made from fibrous material, with a closing mechanism that allows manufacturers to use a larger label area on the front of the packaging. It is valid in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

CoA partially revises first-instance ruling

The Court of Appeal panel now revoked claim 6 as granted on the grounds of lack of inventive step. However, the judges upheld both claim 1 and claim 6 in amended form in accordance with Hartmann’s second auxiliary request.

However, this ultimately did not help Hartmann with regard to the infringement claims. The Court of Appeal judges dismissed all of Hartmann’s claims at the final stage. The judges based their decision on the interpretation of the feature requiring an upwards-extending retaining projection on the bottom part of the packaging. The value of the appeal proceedings was set at €500,000 for both the infringement action and the revocation action.

Second round in a long-standing dispute

This brings to an end a long-running dispute over what appears to be a simple technology and everyday products that are used millions of times in daily life.

Hartmann, Omni-pac and Huhtamaki dominate the European egg packaging market. In the European Union alone, around 6.7 million tonnes are produced and packaged each year. According to industry experts, the market for egg packaging is set to reach a value of 8.20 billion US dollars by 2034.

Hartmann initiated the dispute in 2014 by suing Omni-pac over a different patent at the Düsseldorf Regional Court. Subsequently, the German Federal Court of Justice upheld EP 1 373 100 in a limited form. The parties later settled that dispute. Hartmann had also previously taken legal action against its Finnish competitor Huhtamaki, with that dispute also ending in a settlement.

The Court of Appeal’s confirmation of EP 901 is likely to be at least a partial success for Hartmann. The Danish company retains the opportunity to use the patent against other market participants or future product versions from Omni-pac.

Heuking vs Kather Augenstein

Anton Horn, a partner at Düsseldorf-based Heuking, led the case for Hartmann, continuing a client relationship that dates back to the earlier German proceedings. Danish patent attorney Jan Sørensen from Budde Schou provided technical support. Unlike in the earlier German proceedings, Hartmann did not engage German patent attorneys for the UPC case. Heuking senior associate Birthe Struck completed the team on behalf of Hartmann.

Omni-pac relied on Christof Augenstein, a partner at Düsseldorf-based Kather Augenstein, working alongside patent attorney Claus Becker from the Hamburg-based IP firm Glawe Delfs Moll. Glawe Delfs Moll had also represented Omni-pac in the earlier German proceedings. Kather Augenstein then joined the team to defend against the UPC claim. Nicole Schopp, an associate at Kather Augenstein, is also part of the successful team.