Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, UPC_CFI_362/2025, 30 October 2025)
| Date | 30 October 2025 |
|---|---|
| Court | CFI |
| Division | Paris (FR) Local Division |
| Type of action | Infringement Action |
| Case number(s) | UPC_CFI_362/2025 |
| Registry reference | UPC_CFI_362/2025 |
| Parties | Sun Patent Trust v. Vivo Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.Vivo Tech GmbH Vivo Mobile Communication Iberia SL |
Official decision (PDF) · UPC registry entry
Case timeline
- 13 October 2025 : Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, 13 October 2025) UPC_CFI_362/2025
- 22 May 2026 : Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication Iberia (CFI, UPC_CFI_362/2025, 22 May 2026) UPC_CFI_362/2025
- 30 July 2026 : Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, UPC_CFI_362/2025, 30 July 2026) UPC_CFI_362/2025
- 25 August 2026 : Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, 25 August 2026) UPC_CFI_362/2025
Dhenne Avocats represents claimants and defendants in European patent disputes before the Unified Patent Court, including the Paris divisions.
Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026
Our analysis
Summary
By order of 30 October 2025 (UPC_CFI_362/2025), the Paris Local Division rejected the preliminary objection raised by three Vivo companies against Sun Patent Trust’s infringement action on EP 3 407 524. It upheld its territorial competence and deferred to the merits the admissibility of the request for a ruling that the terms offered are FRAND (claim A.II). For SEP disputes, the order accepts that a FRAND request attached to the infringement action raises no jurisdictional bar at this stage.
Question
Does the UPC have jurisdiction over a patentee’s request for a ruling that its licence offer is FRAND, and is the Paris Local Division competent although no defendant is domiciled in France?
Decision
The main claim is an infringement action. The FRAND request, conditional on a FRAND offer, is in substance an anticipated answer to the FRAND defence, which the UPC may address incidentally, since the issue is linked to infringement. FRAND arguments will be debated in any event, so the admissibility of claim A.II was deferred to the merits under Rule 20.2 RoP. The domicile criterion of Art. 33(1)(b) UPCA was not met, but the place of infringement criterion, read consistently with Art. 7(2) of Regulation 1215/2012, was: a product was bought on Fnac.com, a website directed at the French market, and Vivo Tech appears on the packaging as authorised European representative. Costs were reserved for the merits and the deadline for the statement of defence was maintained.
Key points for practice
- A patentee’s request for a ruling that its offer is FRAND may accompany the infringement action, its admissibility being examined on the merits (Art. 32 UPCA and Rule 20.2 RoP).
- A purchase on a website directed at the French market suffices to found the Paris Local Division’s competence as the place of infringement.
Provisions applied
- Agreement on a Unified Patent Court
- Arts 32(1)(a), 33(1) and (7) and 73(2)(a)
- Rules of Procedure
- Rules 9.3, 19, 20 and 220.2
- Other provisions
- Regulation 1215/2012, Art. 7(2)
- Case law cited
- Panasonic v OPPO, Mannheim Local Division, 22 November 2024, Aylo v Dish, Court of Appeal, 3 September 2024
Related decisions
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.
Decisions in the same proceedings
Going further
Lexicon: Standard essential patent (SEP), FRAND offer and counter-offer, Injunctions and standard essential patents, Patent infringement action.
Dhenne Avocats blog: FRAND at the UPC: What the Court Has Decided, What Remains Open.
Publications by Matthieu Dhenne: Munich’s FRAND Guidelines: A Compass Drawn Too Finely, Tesla v. InterDigital and the FRAND Undertaking Inside the Pool (Kluwer Patent Blog).
Further reading: M. Dhenne, “Calculation of FRAND Royalties: An Overview of Practices Around the World”, European Intellectual Property Review 2019, vol. 41, no. 12, p. 754. M. Dhenne, “Conversant v LG: What about FRAND in France?”, European Intellectual Property Review 2019, vol. 41, no. 9, p. 585.
Source and translations
- Official source
- Unified Patent Court registry link recorded in the record
- Original language
- not recorded
- Translation available
- no translation recorded the firm’s French record is a summary, not a translation
- Date checked
- not recorded
Follow this case
Proceedings, related decisions, appeals, parties and patents as recorded in the registry and in the Dhenne Avocats corpus. Each link states its source.
Parties
- claimantSun Patent Trust25 decisions in the corpusFollow this party
- defendantVivo Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.Vivo Tech GmbH Vivo Mobile Communication Iberia SL3 decisions in the corpusFollow this party
Decisions in the same proceedings and documented appeals
- 13 October 2025 Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, 13 October 2025) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_362/2025
La demande de report du délai du mémoire en défense est rejetée : l'exception préliminaire d'incompétence sur la question FRAND ne justifie pas de déroger à la règle 19.6.
- 30 October 2025 Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, UPC_CFI_362/2025, 30 October 2025) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_362/2025
- 16 March 2026 Vivo Mobile Communication v Sun Patent Trust (CoA, 16 March 2026) Appeal RoP220.2 · appeal, first-instance number cited in the decision
Les appels de Vivo sont rejetés : la formation pouvait renvoyer au fond l'exception d'incompétence visant la demande de détermination FRAND, ce renvoi relevant d'un usage non abusif du pouvoir de gestion de l'instance.
- 22 May 2026 Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication Iberia (CFI, UPC_CFI_362/2025, 22 May 2026) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_362/2025
La juge rapporteure de la division locale de Paris fixe l'audience aux 9, 10 et 11 septembre 2026 et impose une note de synthèse de 50 pages au plus avant le 21 juillet 2026.
- 30 July 2026 Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, UPC_CFI_362/2025, 30 July 2026) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_362/2025
La juge rapporteure de la division locale de Paris fixe la valeur du litige à 10 millions d'euros et organise une audience publique sur les questions techniques suivie d'une journée à huis clos sur les questions FRAND.
- 25 August 2026 Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, 25 August 2026) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_362/2025
La division locale de Paris autorise le désistement de l'action en contrefaçon de Sun Patent Trust et de la demande reconventionnelle en nullité de Vivo, clôt les procédures et annule l'audience.
What the record states
- Nature of the act
- Infringement Action
- Outcome (Dhenne Avocats summary)
- La division locale de Paris rejette l'exception préliminaire de Vivo, retient sa compétence au titre du lieu de la contrefaçon et renvoie au fond la recevabilité de la demande FRAND de Sun Patent Trust.
- Appeal
- An appeal is documented in the corpus (see above).
- Instance
- First-instance decision, whether it has become final is not recorded.
Patents mentioned
EP 3 407 524mentioned in: Dhenne Avocats analysis Follow this patent
Related decisions cited in the analyses
- Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, 25 August 2026) cited in this record
- Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, UPC_CFI_362/2025, 30 July 2026) cited in this record
- Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication Iberia (CFI, UPC_CFI_362/2025, 22 May 2026) cited in this record
- Sun Patent Trust v Vivo Mobile Communication (CFI, 13 October 2025) cited in this record
- Panasonic Holdings v Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications (CFI, 22 November 2024) cited in this record
- AYLO Premium v DISH Technologies (CoA, 3 September 2024) cited in this record
- Vivo Mobile Communication v Sun Patent Trust (CoA, 16 March 2026) cites this decision
Patents and standards
Receive an alert
Weekly summary of new records and substantive updates matching what you follow. Address confirmed by email, unsubscribe at any time, one email per week even where several of your follows match.