UPC Sets Out Burden Of Proof Requirements For Permanent Injunctions

On 4 November, the Milan Local Division of the UPC handed down their final decision in the Oerlikon v Bhagat infringement action. This action commenced not long after the UPC opened its doors, with Oerlikon filing a request for the collection of evidence in June 2023, after Bhagat exhibited a texturing machine at the ITMA exhibition that Oerlikon alleged was an infringement of their patent.

Bhagat did not dispute either the validity of the patent, nor that the machine they displayed infringed it, and in light of this the Panel found them to have infringed Oerlikon's patent. Bhagat argued, however, that they had no knowledge of the patent and had not marketed any copies of the machine in UPC countries in which the patent was in force.