Panasonic Holdings v Xiaomi (CFI, ORD_26378/2024, 4 July 2024)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By an order of 4 July 2024 (UPC_CFI_220/2023, ACT_545619/2023, App_21945/2024), the judge-rapporteur of panel 1 of the Munich Local Division (M. Zigann), in Panasonic Holdings Corporation’s infringement action on EP 3 024 163 against Xiaomi Inc. and nine other companies, made final, with amendments, the provisional confidentiality order of 9 May 2024 covering the Reply and its FRAND annexes. The order clarifies what a Rule 262A RoP order may contain and when time for the Rejoinder starts to run.

Question

May a confidentiality order impose return or destruction of the information and a minimum penalty, and when does time for the Rejoinder run if the unredacted Reply served is incomplete?

Decision

The need for protection was not disputed and is accepted. The notion of representatives is clarified. The obligation to return or destroy the information is removed, as it has no basis in the Rules of Procedure and was not justified under Rule 262A.2 RoP. The minimum penalty was neither justified nor proportionate: the sanction becomes a penalty of up to EUR 100,000 for each culpable breach. The duplicative non-use obligation is deleted. By way of exception, the issue being new, time for the Rejoinder runs only from service of a fully unredacted Reply. The time limits for the counterclaim for revocation and the requests to amend the patent are unaffected, since the revocation attack is independent of the competition-law compulsory licence defence. The extension request (App_33754/2024) is decided by a separate order of the same day.

Key points for practice

• Practical point: an application under Rule 262A RoP must justify each measure sought, a destruction obligation or a minimum penalty will not be granted as a matter of course.

Provisions applied

Rules of Procedure

Rules 9.2, 29(d) and 262A

Case law cited

Mannheim Local Division, 13 June 2024, UPC_CFI_219/2023

Prepared by Dhenne Avocats from the official decision, consulted on 10 October 2026. The database is updated every week, on Friday. Only the official text is authoritative.