UPC keeps Merz infringement case despite earlier French filing

Context: Following the UPC Court of Appeal’s (CoA) April 2026 decision granting Merz a preliminary injunction over French SPC No. 13C0033, protecting the multiple sclerosis drug Fampyra (fampridine) (April 29, 2026 ip fray article), Merz brought an infringement action before the UPC’s Paris Local Division (LD). Viatris had already filed parallel proceedings before the Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris seeking revocation of the SPC, a declaration of non-infringement and, alternatively, a compulsory licence. Viatris therefore asked the UPC to decline jurisdiction or stay the infringement proceedings pending the outcome of the French action.

What’s new: The Paris LD rejected Viatris’ request to decline jurisdiction or stay the infringement proceedings, holding that the earlier French action did not trigger the lis pendens rules under Article 29 of the Brussels I Recast Regulation and that a discretionary stay under Article 30 was not justified. 

Direct impact: The Paris LD will continue hearing Merz’s infringement action despite parallel proceedings before the French national court. Viatris must now litigate the infringement case before the UPC while pursuing its revocation, non-infringement, and compulsory licence claims separately before the Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris (TJP). 

Wider ramifications: The order provides early guidance on how the UPC will manage parallel infringement proceedings alongside related national litigation. It suggests that an earlier national action will not automatically halt UPC proceedings where the causes of action differ and that discretionary stays under Article 30 of the Brussels I Recast Regulation may be difficult to obtain where the UPC expects to reach judgment first.