UPC Court of Appeal’s first ruling on proportionality of injunctions

05 Feb 2026

Unified Patent Court, Court of Appeal, 25 November 2025

The UPC Court of Appeal provided meaningful guidance on the appellant’s right to an injunction and the limits to which it is subject under the principle of proportionality as per Article 3(2) of Directive (EC) No. 2004/48.
The applicant’s right to obtain an injunction should be (exceptionally) excluded in the occurrence of “special reasons”, an expression borrowed by the Court from the European legislation on designs and trademarks (Articles 89(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 on designs and 130(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1001/2017 on EU trade marks).

Such “special reasons” would occur, in particular, when the measure would be contrary to the provisions of Article 3 of Directive (EC) No. 48/2004 – inter alia, the principle of proportionality – or to fundamental rights protected by EU law. Therefore, unlike the restrictive interpretation of the notion of “special reasons” followed by the CJEU, UPC seems to favor a more generous interpretation.
Thus, the Court agreed with the decision by the Munich Local Division to limit the effectiveness of the injunction granted to the applicant, as one of the infringing embodiments of the invention was the sole available treatment method for patients or in any case a significant improvement in such treatment. All in all, while providing very limited guidance on how to determine in practice when an injunction can be considered disproportionate, the UPC’s decision offers a further contribution in this regard, highlighting the importance not only of the interests of the parties directly involved in a case, but also those of third parties.

Giovanni Volpi