UPC: Private Prior Use Must Be Assessed Nationally

In Valeo v Bosch, the Paris Local Division considered Valeo's request to narrow its infringement action by removing certain products from the claim, by abandoning the Belgian part of the case and limiting parts of the action to France. Bosch opposed the changes, arguing that Valeo was effectively seeking to avoid the private prior-use defence that Bosch had raised in France, Belgium and Germany.

The Court rejected that argument and allowed the limitations. In doing so, it stated that private prior use must be assessed under the national law of each Member State in which it is invoked. The Court therefore rejected the submission that the territorial limitations amounted to a circumvention of the prior-use defence.

The issue also arose in relation to Valeo's request to withdraw its infringement claims against a Belgian defendant. The Court allowed the withdrawal, holding that the question of prior use in Belgium was no longer relevant once the Belgian infringement claims had been removed from the proceedings. The Court further observed that the prior-use arguments had been raised only as a defence to infringement, rather than as a separate counterclaim, and therefore did not require determination after the Belgian infringement claims had been withdrawn.

Decision: UPC_CFI_1963/2025

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