Court of Appeals of Barcelona, 29 May 2019, Docket No. 1686/2018
On 29 May 2019, the Court of Appeals of Barcelona handed down a pioneering patent ruling in Spain, according to which, in interpretation of Article 42 of the Spanish Code of Civil Procedure, the national judge has the faculty to declare, in view of the circumstances of the case, the possibility of suspending national proceedings pending the outcome of EPO appeal proceedings.
Since the introduction of the EPC, the reality of parallel national and EPO proceedings has caused difficulties. To date, no decision of the Spanish Courts had agreed to stay national infringement and/or invalidity proceedings of a European patent pending appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO). In these situations, the suspension of the proceedings did not seem to be an option for Spanish Courts.
The full summary can be read here.
Headnote and summary: Luis Fernández-Novoa, HOYNG ROKH MONEGIER