2026-03-23 - LD Paris - Valeo v. Bosch - UPC-CFI-0001963/2025

FR: La condition fixée par l’article 33.1(b) AJUB relative au lien commercial entre les défendeurs n’exige pas un lien commercial direct entre le défendeur dit d’ancrage et chacun des défendeurs mais un lien commercial entre tous les défendeurs. La condition fixée par l’article 33.1(b) AJUB relative à « l’action porte sur la même contrefaçon »,pour justifier la compétence interne d’une Division Locale en cas de pluralité de défendeurs, s’entend de la violation d’un même brevet par tous les défendeurs, et n’exige pas une identité des produits argués de contrefaçon, entre tous les défendeurs. EN: The condition set out in Art. 33.1(b) UPCA regarding the “commercial relationship between the defendants” does not require a direct commercial relationship between the so-called “anchor” defendant and each of the other defendants, but rather a commercial relationship between all of the defendants. The condition set out in Article 33.1(b) of the UPCA, which concerns “the action relating to the same infringement”, justifies the internal jurisdiction of a Local Division in cases involving multiple defendants. This condition refers to the infringement of the same patent by all defendants and does not require the alleged counterfeiting products to be identical for all defendants.

The Paris LD panel confirmed the judge-rapporteur's order rejecting Bosch's preliminary objection to jurisdiction under Art. 33.1(b) UPCA. The court held that the 'commercial relationship' condition does not require a direct link between each defendant and the anchor defendant — membership in the same corporate group with connected activities in the same product range suffices. The 'same alleged infringement' condition refers to the infringement of the same patent by all defendants, not to identical infringing products. Different products from the same range reproducing the same patent claims satisfy this condition. Leave to appeal was granted given the legal interest of the Art. 33.1(b) interpretation.