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Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics ParentCo (CFI, UPC_CFI_1357/2025, 4 June 2026)

Date4 June 2026
CourtCFI
DivisionBrussels (BE) Local Division
Type of actionInfringement Action
Case number(s)UPC_CFI_1357/2025
Registry referenceUPC-CFI-1357/2025
PartiesEstablishment Labs S.A. v. GC Aesthetics ParentCo Limited / Nagor Limited / GC Aesthetics Management Limited / GC Aesthetics (Distribution) Li…

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.

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Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By an order of 4 June 2026 in infringement action UPC_CFI_1357/2025 and counterclaim for revocation UPC_CFI_629/2026 concerning EP 3 107 487, the Brussels Local Division grants Establishment Labs S.A. leave to limit its action by dropping its claims in respect of acts committed in the United Kingdom. It holds that such a limitation does not amount to a withdrawal under Rule 265 and that Rule 361 does not require the court to rule on costs straight away. The order clarifies how limitation, withdrawal and dismissal for manifest lack of legal foundation fit together.

Question

Does limiting an action, so that no claim remains against two of the defendants, amount to a withdrawal, and can those defendants obtain their release from the case, an immediate costs decision and restrictions on future claims?

Decision

Leave to limit is granted unconditionally (paragraph 8). Rule 263.3 does not automatically trigger Rule 265, which requires a formal application to withdraw, and none was made (paragraph 10). With no claim left against Defendants 2 and 10, the action manifestly lacks any foundation in law as regards them under Rule 361 (paragraphs 12 and 13), but they remain parties solely for the final costs proceedings, since Rule 361 does not oblige the court to decide on costs (paragraphs 14, 15 and 21). As no procedural abuse is shown, the prospective restrictions sought are refused as a disproportionate limitation of access to justice (paragraphs 16 to 18). The defendants limit their own requests accordingly (paragraphs 19 and 20). Leave to appeal is granted (paragraph 23).

Key points for practice

Provisions applied

Rules of Procedure
Rules 220.1, 220.2, 263.3, 265, 360, 361 and 363.4
Case law cited
Volkswagen v Network System Technologies, Court of Appeal, 18 September 2024, Ballinno v Kinexon Sports & Media, Court of Appeal, 12 May 2025

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: Patent infringement action.

Publications by Matthieu Dhenne: Pleading the Long Arm: What a UPC Statement of Claim Must Carry Beyond Jurisdiction (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.

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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_1357/2025 official number

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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. 18 March 2026 Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics Parentco (CFI, 18 March 2026) Generic Order · UPC_CFI_1357/2025

    Establishment Labs doit fournir sous 21 jours une garantie de 600 000 euros, soit la moitié du plafond provisoire des frais remboursables calculé sur la valeur cumulée de l'action et de la demande reconventionnelle, la difficulté d'exécution au Costa Rica n'étant pas établie mais sa situation financière justifiant une …

  2. 14 April 2026 1. GC AESTHETICS PARENTCO (CFI, 14 April 2026) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_1357/2025
  3. 4 June 2026 Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics ParentCo (CFI, UPC_CFI_1357/2025, 4 June 2026) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_1357/2025
  4. 26 June 2026 Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics ParentCo (CFI, UPC_CFI_1357/2025, 26 June 2026) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_1357/2025

    La division refuse un échantillon supplémentaire et ordonne la production de trois catégories de documents, dans le périmètre et le délai de 28 jours convenus devant la juridiction britannique.

  5. 14 August 2026 Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics ParentCo (CFI, UPC_CFI_1357/2025, 14 August 2026) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_1357/2025

    Les sections « Infringement » et « Relief » de la duplique sont écartées, sauf sur la garantie, tandis que les sections « Acts of Infringement » et « Jurisdiction » sont admises au titre de la règle 36, les défenderesses pouvant y répondre jusqu’au 7 septembre 2026.

  6. 28 October 2026 Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics (CFI, UPC_CFI_1357/2025, 28 October 2026) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_1357/2025

    À l’issue de la conférence intermédiaire, le juge-rapporteur de la division locale de Bruxelles fixe la valeur du litige et le plafond des frais, organise la clarification des positions sur l’interprétation des revendications et la confidentialité de l’audience, et prend acte des points de compétence et de validité à d…

  7. 29 October 2026 Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics (CFI, UPC_CFI_1357/2025, 29 October 2026) Infringement Action · UPC_CFI_1357/2025

    Le juge-rapporteur rectifie le point 11 de son ordonnance du 28 octobre 2026 : les déclarations sur la confidentialité des implants SilkSurface/SmoothSilk émanaient d’Establishment Labs, qui maintient son argument de confidentialité devant la JUB.

What the record states

Nature of the act
Infringement Action
Outcome (Dhenne Avocats summary)
La limitation de l'action est accordée sans valoir désistement au sens de la règle 265, les deux défenderesses visées par aucune demande subsistante restent parties pour les seuls frais, et les restrictions pour l'avenir sont refusées.
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 3 107 487Mentioned in the analysis (role not qualified)
Also mentioned in 7 other decision(s): Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics ParentCo (CFI, UPC_CFI_1357/2025, 1 · Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics ParentCo (CFI, UPC_CFI_1357/2025, 2 · Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics Parentco (CFI, 14 April 2026) · Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics Parentco (CFI, 18 March 2026) · Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics Parentco (CFI, 15 January 2026) · Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics (CFI, UPC_CFI_1357/2025, 28 October · Establishment Labs v GC Aesthetics (CFI, UPC_CFI_629/2026, 28 October 		not recordednot recordednot recordedEspacenet
links not checked
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.

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