2026-10-15 - LD Paris - Merz v. Viatris Sant - UPC-CFI-0001901/2026

The full panel of the Paris Local Division decided a defendant's procedural application to bifurcate its counterclaim for revocation of an SPC and to stay that counterclaim in view of an earlier stand-alone revocation action before the Paris Tribunal judiciaire. Because the application concerned bifurcation under Art. 33(3) UPCA and R. 37.2 RoP, the panel, not the judge-rapporteur, decided it. With both parties in agreement, the panel referred the counterclaim to the Paris Central Division, which holds competence for the validity of the SPC under Annex II, and left the lis pendens stay question under Art. 31 UPCA and Arts. 29-30 Brussels I recast to that division. The infringement action continues before the Paris LD for reasons of procedural efficiency.