Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine v Healios K.K (CFI, UPC_CFI_75/2023, 11 October 2023)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By procedural order of 11 October 2023 (UPC_CFI_75/2023, ACT_464985/2023), the judge-rapporteur of the Munich section of the Central Division, in Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s revocation action against EP 3 056 563 held by Healios, Riken and Osaka University, ruled that the Defence to Revocation was deemed served on the claimant on 29 September 2023. The order confirms that the notification generated by the case management system (CMS) amounts to service, with no specific communication from the Court required.

Question

Was the Defence, first filed through the wrong CMS workflow and then refiled through the « Defence » workflow, served on the claimant in the absence of a separate communication from the Registry, and if so on what date?

Decision

The parties are in principle obliged to use the CMS and its dedicated workflows, and it is their sole responsibility to file properly and on time. Submissions and correspondence outside the CMS should be kept to a minimum. The notification generated by the system is the « means of electronic communication » referred to in Rule 278.1 RoP, and no further « specific communications » from the Court are required. The defendants argued that the two-month period for the Reply had not started for want of such communications. The claimant had said it would treat 29 September 2023, the date of refiling, as the date of service. As the defendants raised no objection to that date, the Court accepted it. A request for panel review remains available within 15 days (Rule 333 RoP).

Key points for practice

• Practical point: service of a pleading filed through the correct CMS workflow results from the system’s automatic notification, the period for reply runs without waiting for any step by the Registry, and filing through the wrong workflow may delay that starting point.

Provisions applied

Rules of Procedure

Rules 4.1, 6.1(b), 9, 32, 51, 271.6, 278.1, 278.4, 278.5 and 333

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.