Paris Local Division
UPC_CFI_697/2025
Procedural Order
of the Court of First Instance of the Unified Patent Court
delivered on 17/09/2025

APPLICANTS
1) Merz Therapeutics GmbH
Eckenheimer Landstraße 100
60318 Frankfurt am Main - DE
2) Merz Pharmaceuticals LLC
Unit 35/36,
6601 Six Forks Road, 4th Floor
27615 Raleigh, North Carolina - US
3) Merz Pharma France
Tour EQHO, 2 Avenue Gambetta
92400 Courbevoie – FR
Represented by
Laëtitia Bénard

RESPONDENT – DEFENDANT
Viatris Santé
1 rue de Turin
69007 Lyon – FR
Represented by
Marc Lauzeral

PATENT AT ISSUE
Patent no. Proprietor
EP2377536 Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC
Patent no. SPC details
EP2377536 SPC ID FR13C0033
National Designations FR
Patent no. SPC ID National
Designations
Holders
EP2377536 FR13C0033 FR Merz
Pharmaceuticals,
LLC

COMPOSITION OF THE FULLPANEL
Presiding judge & Camille Lignières
Judge-rapporteur
Legally qualified judge Carine Gillet
Legally qualified judge Samuel Granata
Technically qualified judge Rainer Friedrich

DECIDING judge
Camille Lignieres, acting as Judge-rapporteur

LANGUAGE OFPROCEEDINGS: English

ORDER
Facts and procedure:
On 31 July 2025 MERZ en􀆟􀆟es lodged before the present Division an applica􀆟on of 30 pages
(plus 6 pages for Annexes) for provisional measures pursuant to Ar􀆟cle 62 UPCA and Rule 206
RoP .
This applica􀆟on was served on the Defendant (VIATRIS) on 10 August 2025.

By order of 18 August 2025 pursuant to Rule 209.1 RoP, the Judge rapporteur has invited the
par􀆟es to comply with the 􀆟metable and summoned the par􀆟es to an oral hearing, as follows:
Timetable
• Defendant's Objec􀆟on by 15 September 2025
• Claimants’ last Reply by 25 September 2025 (a brief note, max 10 pages)
• Defendant's Rejoinder by 3 October 2025 (a brief note, max 10 pages)
And the Oral Hearing was confirmed to take place on 10 October 2025.
The Objec􀆟on was filed by VIATRIS on 15 September 2025 with 473 pages (plus 8 pages for Annexes).
On 16 September 2025, MERZ filed a procedural applica􀆟on under R.9 RoP requesting that the
Court:
A) As a primary claim
1. Orders the Respondent, under Rule 9.1 of the UPC Rules of Procedure, to file by a date
deemed reasonable by the Court, such as 17 September 2025 18:00 CET, a consolidated Objec-
􀆟on not exceeding a number of pages deemed reasonable by the Court, such as 70 pages (exclu-sive
of annexes), with the 481-page version treated as withdrawn and expunged from the record;
and
2. Grants the Applicants leave, pursuant to Rule 9.3 of the UPC Rules of Procedure, to file a Reply
not exceeding a number of pages deemed reasonable by the Court, such as 40 pages (exclusive
of annexes), by 29 September 2025;
B) Or, in the alterna􀆟ve
1. Orders the Respondent, under Rule 9.1 of the UPC Rules of Procedure, to file by a date
deemed reasonable by the Court, such as 17 September 2025 18:00 CET, a consolidated Objection not exceeding a number of pages deemed reasonable by the Court, such as 100 pages (exclusive
of annexes), with the 481-page version treated as withdrawn and expunged from the record;
and
2. Grants the Applicants leave, pursuant to Rule 9.3 of the UPC Rules of Procedure, to file a Reply
not exceeding a number of pages deemed reasonable by the Court, such as 70 pages (exclusive
of annexes), by 29 September 2025.
MERZ argues notably that this manifest disparity in the parties’ written submissions will deprive
the Applicants of an equal opportunity to defend their case, overburden the Court with prolix
submissions contrary to procedural economy, and jeopardise the integrity and 􀆟meliness of the
10 October hearing.
In reply of 16 September 2025, VIATRIS provided the following comments to object to the re-quest
from MERZ:
-The submissions ‘layout facilitates easier reading, and based on Merz’s layout, the Submissions
are 177 pages long.
-Due to Merz’s argumentation, Viatris must answer all the arguments raised over the 6844 pages
in the opposi􀆟on proceedings.
-The 177-page long discussion is justified by the object of the proceedings: two intellectual property
rights, namely a SPC and a patent.
Alterna􀆟vely, VIATRIS would accept to summarise its Objection on 140 pages via a new Exhibit
filed by 21 September 2025 and would not oppose MERZ having the right to answer in 100 pages.

GROUNDS

A provisional measure application pursuant to R. 206 RoP is dealt with in the context of summary
proceedings due to an urgent situation.
In the present case, the Application filed was reasonable enough with 30 pages.
Even if two Intellectual Property titles are involved, the 470-page objection filed by the Defend-
ants is not appropriate in the context of provisional measures, particularly given the 􀆟meline established
by the judge rapporteur.

ORDER
In light of the principles of procedural economy, fairness and efficiency, the judge rapporteur orders
that:
- VIATRIS files a 70-page summary of the main points of its Objection by 19 September 2025 at 2
pm.
- MERZ files its 40-page Reply focused on validity ma􀆩ers by 29 September 2025 at 2 pm.
- Moreover, the judge rapporteur will set up a case management mee􀆟ng with the representatives at least one week before the oral hearing to organise its practical modalities.
-This order may be reviewed by the panel pursuant to R. 333 RoP.
Issued in Paris, on 17 September 2025.

C. LIGNIERES, Judge rapporteur

ORDER DETAILS
Order no. ORD_37065/2025
UPC number: UPC_CFI_697/2025
Related proceeding no. Application No.: 33980/2025
Application Type: Application for provisional measures (RoP206)