ALD France v Nanoval (CFI, 9 December 2025)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

In an order of 9 December 2025, the judge-rapporteur of the Paris Central Division dismissed Nanoval’s preliminary objection to ALD France’s revocation action against EP 3 083 107 B1, together with its request for a stay. A counterclaim for revocation by the German sister company ALD Vacuum Technologies, pending before the Munich Local Division, does not make another group company’s action inadmissible: Article 33(4) UPCA requires the parties to be the same.

Question

May a group company bring a revocation action before the Central Division where another company in the same group, sued for infringement in Munich, has already counterclaimed there for revocation of the same patent?

Decision

Yes. ALD France and ALD Vacuum Technologies are not « the same party » within Article 33(4): the concept requires identity of parties. The burden of proving that the claimant was a straw man lay with Nanoval (Rule 171.1), shared lawyers and similar pleadings are not enough, and the financial figures show an independent company. The division left open whether abuse of process can be raised by way of Rule 19, since there was no abuse here. The stay was refused under Rule 295(m): the right to effective legal protection calls for a prompt decision on the revocation action, and the risk of diverging decisions is built into the UPCA system.

Key points for practice

• Practical point: a group may open a second revocation front before the Central Division through another entity, provided it is not a mere straw man, which the patentee must prove.

Provisions applied

Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

Arts 32(1), 33(4) and 36(3)

Rules of Procedure

Rules 19, 171.1, 295 and 370.8

Case law cited

Meril v Edwards Lifesciences, Central Division, 13 November 2023, Seoul Viosys v Emporia UK, Central Division, 1 September 2025, Meril v Edwards Lifesciences, Court of Appeal, 25 November 2025, Court of Appeal, UPC_CoA_22/2024

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.