LD Paris, March 23, 2026, Procedural Order, UPC_CFI_1963/2025

1. Key takeaways

Art. 33(1)(b) UPCA does not require a direct commercial link between the “anchor defendant” and each of the other defendants, but only a commercial link between all the defendants

The commercial link is assessed flexibly to avoid multiplying parallel proceedings and the risk of contradictory decisions. This applies in particular in cases where all defendants belong to the same group of companies and where the respective activities of each of the defendnats are related and pursue the same objective, such as R&D, manufacture, sale, and distribution of the same products or the same range of products.

It is not required that every defendant must have a special commercial relationship with the anchor defendant. Otherwise, all cases would systematically have to be brought before the division of the parent company’s seat, which is supported neither by the wording nor the spirit of Art. 33(1)(b) UPCA nor from the objectives of the UPC.