Taking over the representation of Hefei Xinhu Canned Motor Pump Co., Ltd. only at the appeal stage, Grünecker successfully secured a complete turnaround before the Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court.
By decision of 27 May 2026 (UPC_CoA_622/2025 and UPC_CoA_623/2025), the Court of Appeal set aside the first-instance decision, invalidated EP 2 778 423 to the extent relevant for infringement and dismissed the infringement action in its entirety.
The decision is expected to influence the separate nullity proceedings relating to the same patent that remain pending before the UPC Central Division in Munich.
Beyond the outcome of the case, the Court of Appeal further refined its case law in important respects.
With regard to claim interpretation, the Court clarified that identical terms in a patent claim generally have the same meaning. However, this is only a general rule. Depending on the function of the respective claim feature, the same term may require a different interpretation in different parts of the claim.
The Court also provided further guidance on the admissibility of submissions on appeal. It held that whether arguments further developed in appeal proceedings constitute “new” submissions depends on the manner in which those arguments were presented at first instance. In the present case, the Court admitted additional evidence on common general knowledge identified by Grünecker’s team at the appeal stage despite extensive searches conducted during the first-instance proceedings, finding that it merely substantiated and clarified an argument that had already been coherently raised before the court of first instance.
The Grünecker team acting in this matter consisted of Dr. Ulrich Blumenröder, Dr. Nicola Busch, Yilin Jin, Lennart Nolan and Dr. Alexander Stumvoll.
