Context: The Unified Patent Court’s (UPC) Dusseldorf Local Division (LD) is one of the world’s leading patent venues. As of next month, it will have two panels (February 6, 2026 ip fray article). Yesterday it announced and published a permanent injunction Canon obtained against third-party cartridge maker Katun, as we discussed in our most recent article.
What’s new: The Dusseldorf LD has now granted Align Technology, an orthodontic medical technology company, provisional measures (in other jurisdictions called a preliminary injunction (PI)) against rival Angelalign Technology over unitary patent EP4346690 (“Automated management of clinical modifications to treatment plans using three-dimensional controls”). This is about orthodontic treatment planning software for clear aligner therapy.
Direct impact: The case is economically significant as indicated by the notional value of the dispute (€12M). The order is obviously appealable.
Wider ramifications: The order comes with certain clarifications, mostly related to (in)validity arguments (such as alleging flaws in the examination by the European Patent Office (EPO)), but also to the requirements for a financial holding company to be liable for infringement.
Here’s the order, followed by some observations:
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Court and counsel
Panel: Presiding Judge Ronny Thomas, Judge Dr. Bérénice Thom, Judge-rapporteur Marjolein Visser (CD Paris), and Technically Qualified Judge Dr. Elisabetta Papa.
Counsel for Align: Carpmaels & Ransford’s John Brunner and Agathe Michel-de Cazotte.
Counsel for defendants (five Angelalign entities and Shanghai EA Medical Instruments): Arnold Ruess’s (ip fray firm profile with numerous achievements) Dr. Arno Risse (“Riße” in German) as well as Michalski Hüttermann’s Dr. Ulrich Storz and Wanze Zhang.