Less Is More: UPC Orders Claimant To Select And Rank Attacks

In a recent decision from the Milan Central Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), the Court maintained EP3756767 in amended form after severely restricting the number of patentability attacks the claimant was allowed to pursue (UPC_CFI_497/2024).

The patent was directed to modular point-of-care diagnostic devices, originally filed by Elizabeth Holmes' Theranos Inc, now in the name of Labrador Diagnostics. French biotech company bioMérieux sought revocation at the Milan Central Division, while infringement proceedings are also ongoing at the Düsseldorf Local Division (with the oral hearing scheduled for late-November 2025). 

bioMérieux's submissions against the patent included, according to the Court, “about 50 invalidity attacks, more than 12 added matter attacks, 3 novelty attacks, 1 insufficiency attack, and 6 different starting points for 30 inventive step attacks”.