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Düsseldorf Local Division
UPC_CFI_336/2024
UPC_CFI_605/2024
Procedural Order
of the Court of First Instance of the Unified Patent Court
issued on 13 April 2025
concerning EP 3 065 184 B1
Claimant:
Maxeon Solar Pte. Ltd., represented by its CEO, 8 Marina Boulevard #05-02, Marina Bay Financial Centre, 018981 Singapur
Represented by: Attorney-at-law Christian Harmsen, Attorney-at-law Dr Bastian Selck, Bird & Bird LLP, Carl-Theodor-Straße 6, 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany
Electronic address for service: christian.harmsen@twobirds.com
bastian.selck@twobirds.com
Contributing: Patent Attorney Dr Felix Harbsmeier, Patent Attorney Cameron Walker, Bird & Bird LLP, Am Sandtorkai 50, 20457 Hamburg, Ger-many
Tjibbe Douma und Carlos van Staveren, Bird & Bird (Netherlands) LLP, Gustav Mahlerlaan 42, 1082 MC Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Defendants:
1. Aiko Energy Germany GmbH, represented by its CEOs Dr Christian Frank Peter und Haojie Lu, Niederkasseler Lohweg 18, 40547 Düsseldorf, Germany
2. Solarlab Aiko Europe GmbH, Dr Christian Frank Peter, Berliner Allee 29, 79110 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
3. Memodo GmbH, represented by its CEOs Enrico Brandmeier, Daniel Schmitt und Tobias Wenleder, Eichenstraße 11 a-d, 85445 Oberding, Germany
4. Aiko Energy Netherlands B.V., represented by its CEO, Schiphol Boulevard 201 – 1118 BG - Schipol, the Netherlands
5. Libra Energy B.V., represented by ist CEO Bram van Duijn, Eendrachtsstraat 199, 1951 AX Velsen-Noord, the Netherlands
6. VDH Solar Groothandel B.V., represented by its CEO, Finlandlaan 1, 2391 PV, Hazerswoud-edorp, the Netherlands
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7. PowerDeal SRL, represented by its CEO, Rue du Fond des Fourches 41, 4041 Herstal, Belgium
8. Coenergia Srl a Socio Unico, represented by its CEO, Foro Buonaparte 55, 20121 Milan, Italy
Defendants 1., 2. and 4. represented by: Attorney-at-law Gertjan Kuipers, Attorney-at-law Hendrik Jan Ridderinkhof and other Representatives before the UPC of Hogan Lovells International LLP, Strawinskylaan 4129, 1077 ZX Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Electronic address for service: upc-hub@hoganlovells.com
Contributing: Attorney-at-law Dr Henrik Lehment, Attor-ney-at-law Vanessa Zipperich and other Rep-resentatives before the UPC of Hogan Lovells LLP, Dreischeibenhaus 1, 40211 Düsseldorf, Germany
Patent Attorney Dr Andreas Schmid, Patent Attorney Cedrik Rohr and other Representa-tives before the UPC of Hogan Lovells Inter-national LLP, Karl-Scharnagl-Ring 5, 80539 Munich, Germany
Defendants 3. and 5. to 8. represented by: Attorney-at-law Dr Constantin Kurtz, Attor-ney-at-law Dr Stefan Eck, Attorney-at-law Maximilian Reif, Klaka Rechtsanwälte Part-nerschaft mbB, Delpstraße 4, 81679 Munich, Germany
Electronic address for service: ckurtz@klaka.com
Contributing: Patent Attorney Dr Markus Herzog, Patent Attorney Manuel Millahn, Weickmann & Weickmann Patent- und Rechtsanwälte Part-mbB, Richard-Strauss-Straße 80, 81679 Mu-nich, Germany
PATENT IN SUIT:
EUROPEAN PATENT NO. 3 065 184 B1
PANEL/DIVISION:
Panel of the Düsseldorf Local Division
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DECIDING JUDGES:
This order was issued by Presiding Judge Thomas acting as judge-rapporteur.
LANGUAGE OF THE PROCEEDINGS: English
SUBJECT: R. 262A RoP – Protection of confidential information
SUMMARY OF FACTS AND STATEMENT OF FORMS OF ORDER SOUGHT BY THE PARTIES:
By procedural order of 23 December 2024, the Düsseldorf Local Division classified the following
information as confidential:
1. the green-shaded statements/numbers included in the Statement of Defence and the Counterclaim for Revocation submitted by Defendants 1., 2. and 4. and dated 21 Oc-tober 2024 relating to revenue, profit and sales figures of Defendant 1. and Defendant 4. including the green-shaded details on the calculation methods for the enforcement securities;
2. Exhibit HL 35 which concerns details related to the revenue, profit and sales figures of Defendant 1. and Defendant 4.
In addition, access to this information has been restricted by the above-mentioned order, while
the group of persons to whom access is granted has been extended by order of 26 January 2025.
Defendants 1., 2. and 4. now seek an extension of that order. They submit that the number of
accused products sold by Defendants 1. and 4. in 2024 in the Member States covered by the action
constitutes a trade secret. Therefore, in their view, Defendants 1., 2. and 4. have a legitimate in-
terest in keeping the circle of people who have access to this information as small as possible and,
in particular, in keeping this information as secret as possible from third parties and competitors.
The same applies with regard to the percentage by which the actual number of attacked products
sold in 2024 in the Member States covered by the action deviates from the estimated number of
products sold, since this percentage might allow conclusions to be drawn about the sales figures
and business development of the Defendants 1. and 4. in the Member States covered by the ac-
tion. For the same reason and/or due to possible conclusions that might be drawn with regard to
Defendants 1. and 4. revenues or profits, the amounts of the individual enforcement securities
shown in green-shaded and the respective calculations are confidential and must be protected.
The Claimant objected to this application.
In its opinion, the green-shaded statements/numbers contained in the Rejoinder concerning the
revenue, profit and sales figures of Defendants 1. and 4., including the green-shaded calculations
as well as Exhibit HL 41, do not constitute trade secrets. The conditions for this are not met and
have not been outlined by Defendants 1., 2. and 4. Hypothetical, unrealistic sales figures cannot
be a trade secret.
To the extent that the Defendants 1., 2. and 4. seek to extend the order to “any statements/num-
bers relating to the revenue, profit and sales figures of the Defendants 1. and 4. in further written
submissions, exhibits and/or oral submissions to be filed/made during these proceedings”, the
Claimant already considers the request to be inadmissible and too vague.
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INDICATION OF THE PARTIES’ REQUESTS:
The Defendants 1., 2. and 4. request
to extend the order dated 23 December 2024 as amended by the order dated 26 January
2025 to
• the green-shaded statements/numbers included in the Rejoinder relating to the reve-
nue, profit and sales figures of Defendant 1. and Defendant 4. including the green-
shaded calculations;
• the green-shaded number in Exhibit HL 41 which concerns the sales figures of
Defendant 1. and Defendant 4.;
• any statements/numbers relating to the revenue, profit and sales figures of the De-
fendants 1. and 4. in further written submissions, exhibits and/or oral submissions to
be filed/made during these proceedings.
The Claimant requests
1. the application of the Defendants 1., 2., and 4., dated March 3, 2025, be dismissed,
in the alternative
2. only the “the green-shaded statements/numbers included in the Rejoinder to the Re-
ply to the Statement of Defence, Reply to the Defence to the Counterclaim and De-
fence to the Application to amend the patent dated 3 March 2025 relating to the rev-
enue, profit and sales figures of Defendant sub 1. and Defendant sub 4. including the
green shaded calculations and the green shaded number in Exhibit HL 41 which con-
cerns the sales figures of Defendant 1. and Defendant 4. are classified as confidential
within the meaning of Art. 58 UPCA, R. 262.2 RoP.
GROUNDS FOR THE ORDER:
The formal requirements of R. 262A.2 and .3 RoP were complied with. The Claimant and Defend-
ants 3. and 5. to 8. were also heard before the confidentiality order was issued, as required by
R. 262A.4 RoP. The Claimant made use of the opportunity to submit observations.
With respect to Defendant’s 1., 2. and 4. interest in protecting the green-shaded statements/num-
bers contained in the Rejoinder to the Reply to the Statement of Defence, the Reply to the Defence
to the Counterclaim and the Defence to the Application to amend the patent relating to the reve-
nues, profits and sales figures of Defendant 1. and Defendant 4., including the green-shaded cal-
culations and the green-shaded number in Exhibit HL 41 relating to Defendant’s 1. and 4. sales
figures, reference is made to the order dated 23 December 2024 (section 3).
The Claimant rightly criticises the further request, which refers to further written and oral submis-
sions and/or exhibits, as being too vague and indeterminate.
Information that has already been declared confidential will remain confidential if it is included in
future submissions or exhibits. With respect to such information, a new confidentiality order
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would only be declaratory. An extension of the confidentiality regime can only be considered for
the specific information for which an extension is requested. However, if the Defendants seek such
an extension, a specific explanation of the interest in protecting the confidentiality of the infor-
mation in question will be required.
ORDER:
I. The order dated 23 December 2024, as amended by the order dated 26 January 2025,
is extended to
1. the green-shaded statements/numbers included in the Rejoinder relating to the
revenue, profit and sales figures of Defendant 1. and Defendant 4. including the
green-shaded calculations;
2. the green-shaded number in Exhibit HL 41 which concerns the sales figures of
Defendant 1. and Defendant 4.
II. The application is rejected in all other aspects.
DETAILS OF THE ORDER:
App_10549/2025, App_10556/2025 and App_10557/2025 under main file references ACT_36426/2024, CC_57043/2024 and App_67939/2024
UPC numbers: UPC_CFI_336/2024 and UPC_CFI_605/2024
Type of procedure: Infringement action and Counterclaim for revocation
Issued in Düsseldorf on 13 April 2025
NAME UND SIGNATURE
Presiding Judge Thomas
Ronny
Thomas
Digital
unterschrieben von
Ronny Thomas
Datum: 2025.04.13
09:30:49 +02'00'