Opens in a new tab

10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 29 January 2024)

Date29 January 2024
CourtCFI
DivisionDüsseldorf (DE) Local Division
Type of actionApplication for provisional measures
Case number(s)UPC_CFI_463/2023
Registry referenceORD_3015/2024 · UPC_CFI_463/2023
Parties10x Genomics, Inc. v. Curio Bioscience Inc.

Official decision (PDF) · UPC registry entry

Case timeline

Dhenne Avocats represents claimants and defendants in European patent disputes before the Unified Patent Court, including the Paris divisions.

Contact the firm

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By an order of 29 January 2024 (UPC_CFI_463/2023, ORD_3015/2024), the presiding judge and judge-rapporteur of the Düsseldorf Local Division, seised by 10x Genomics, Inc. of an application for provisional measures against Curio Bioscience Inc. based on EP 2 697 391, asked the President of the Court of First Instance, with the parties’ consent, to allocate a technically qualified judge with expertise in the field of the patent (IPC C12Q). The order confirms that a technical judge may sit as early as the provisional measures stage.

Question

May a technically qualified judge be added to the panel in provisional measures proceedings, although Rule 34 RoP refers only to proceedings on the merits?

Decision

The judge noted that provisional measures require the validity of the patent to be sufficiently secure, the panel having to assess whether the challenges raised are capable of casting doubt on it (Art. 62(4) UPCA and Rule 211.2 RoP). The second sentence of Article 8(5) UPCA allows the panel, after hearing the parties, to add a technical judge of its own motion in interim proceedings. Gene technology being technically demanding, the allocation was considered useful and necessary, early involvement of the technical judge also helping to prepare the oral hearing and speed up the proceedings.

Key points for practice

Provisions applied

Agreement on a Unified Patent Court
Art. 8(5), 18(3) and 62(4)
Rules of Procedure
Rules 34 and 211.2
Case law cited
Ortovox Sportartikel v Mammut Sports Group, Düsseldorf Local Division, 11 December 2023, Munich Local Division, UPC_CFI_2/2023, Helsinki Local Division, UPC_CFI_214/2023

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.


Decisions in the same proceedings

Going further

Lexicon: Application for a preliminary injunction, Order to preserve evidence (UPC).

Publications by Matthieu Dhenne: The Launch Letter: How Generics and Biosimilars Should Write to Avoid UPC Urgency (Kluwer Patent Blog).

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
Only the official text is authoritative. A machine translation is never presented as official, republishing a third-party document requires a verified basis in rights, and a link to the source is preferred.

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.

Proceedings

  • UPC_CFI_463/2023 official number

Follow this case

Parties

Exact name as it appears in the record, group affiliation only where sourced and dated.

Decisions in the same proceedings and documented appeals

  1. 29 January 2024 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 29 January 2024) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023
  2. 14 February 2024 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 14 February 2024) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023

    La demande de confidentialité anticipée est réservée jusqu'au dépôt de la réponse, tout document déposé avec une demande au titre de la règle 262A bénéficiant d'une protection provisoire.

  3. 23 February 2024 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, UPC_CFI_463/2023, ACT_590953/2023, 23 February 2024) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023

    L'accès aux informations confidentielles est provisoirement limité aux représentants désignés, à deux assistants et à un salarié de la partie adverse. L'exclusion de tout salarié et l'interdiction de participer à des négociations de licence sont refusées.

  4. 23 February 2024 Curio Bioscience v 10x Genomics (CFI, 23 February 2024) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023
  5. 23 February 2024 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, UPC_CFI_463/2023, ORD_9718/2024, 23 February 2024) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023

    Les demandes de report et de prorogation du délai de réplique sont rejetées : le délai court du prononcé de l'ordonnance qui le fixe, sans attendre l'issue de la procédure de confidentialité.

  6. 23 February 2024 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, UPC_CFI_463/2023, ORD_9718/2024, 23 February 2024, doc. 2) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023

    Le délai de réplique court à compter de l'ordonnance qui l'a fixé et n'est ni reporté à la fin de la procédure de confidentialité ni prorogé.

  7. 26 February 2024 Curio Bioscience v 10x Genomics (CFI, UPC_CFI_463/2023, ORD_5853/2024, 26 February 2024) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023

    La demande de passage à l'anglais, langue de délivrance, est rejetée faute d'éléments établissant un préjudice sensible pour le défendeur.

  8. 26 February 2024 Curio Bioscience v 10x Genomics (CFI, UPC_CFI_463/2023, ORD_5853/2024, 26 February 2024, doc. 2) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023
  9. 1 March 2024 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 1 March 2024) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023

    L'interprétation simultanée de l'audience n'est pas ordonnée, la demanderesse ayant choisi l'allemand et refusé le passage à l'anglais. Les parties peuvent recourir à des interprètes à leurs frais.

  10. 11 March 2024 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 11 March 2024) Application for provisional measures · UPC_CFI_463/2023

    Les informations commerciales de Curio sont protégées, l'accès étant limité à quatre avocats, deux assistantes et un salarié de 10x Genomics. L'activité technique d'un salarié ne justifie pas à elle seule son exclusion.

  11. 22 March 2024 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 22 March 2024) Procedural Order · UPC_CFI_463/2023

    Le conseil en brevets de la défenderesse peut plaider en anglais avec interprétation simultanée vers l'allemand à ses frais. La représentante qui maîtrise l'allemand doit plaider dans la langue de procédure.

What the record states

Nature of the act
Application for provisional measures
Outcome (Dhenne Avocats summary)
Le juge rapporteur fait demander, avec l'accord des parties, l'affectation d'un juge techniquement qualifié à la formation saisie de la demande de mesures provisoires.
Appeal
No appeal documented in the corpus, this does not mean that no appeal was lodged.
Instance
First-instance decision, whether it has become final is not recorded.

Patents mentioned

Related decisions cited in the analyses

Scope: Dhenne Avocats corpus. Registry-based links are marked “official number”; links derived from the analyses are marked as such. An erroneous link can be withdrawn without deleting any record.

Patents and standards

PublicationRole in the disputeFamilyStandard and declarationPoolSources
EP 2 697 391
Method and product for localised or spatial detection of nucleic acid in a tissue sample
recorded proprietor: Spatial Transcriptomics AB		Mentioned in the analysis (role not qualified)
Also mentioned in 28 other decision(s): 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, ORD_598272/2023, 30 April 2024) · 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, UPC_CFI_658/2025, 2 February 202 · 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, UPC_CFI_657/2025, 2 February 202 · 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 5 August 2025) · 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 4 August 2025) · 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 16 June 2025) · 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 4 June 2025) · 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (CFI, 2 May 2025)		not recordednot recordednot recordedEspacenet · European Patent Register
existence and title of the publication checked on 30 October 2026 (Google Patents, Espacenet and Register links are not checked automatically)
mentioned in: Dhenne Avocats analysis
The statuses “asserted in litigation”, “declared essential”, “listed by a pool” and “essentiality examined by a court” are distinct and may coexist. Validity, infringement and technical essentiality are different questions. Scope: patents cited in the decisions of the Dhenne Avocats corpus, with no essentiality score or prediction.

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.

Follow

Weekly summary, on Fridays.