MILAN CENTRAL DIVISION Law and Practice Contributed by: Luca Pellicciari, Lorenzo Battarino and Daniel Borgogni, Trevisan & Cuonzo
The Milan CD is also competent to hear infringe - ment actions concerning class A patents when - ever the competence of the central division exists pursuant to Article 33.1, third and fourth paragraph, UPCA. Class A is referred to as the “Human Neces - sities” class. As such, it encompasses a wide array of technologies spanning across fields such as agriculture, foodstuffs, tobacco, per - sonal or domestic articles, health, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, saving and amusement, veterinary science and hygiene, sport, jewellery, wearing apparel and others. A more detailed list is available from WIPO. 1.6 Court of Appeal: Purpose and Procedure This does not apply. The Milan Central Division opened in June 2024, one year after the other Central Divisions in Munich and Paris. This means that its current caseload is restricted and the first cases opened there are only just on the verge of reaching trial. The Paris Central Division acted as a minder for cases that would now be allocated to Milan (see classification details below). In the year from June 2023 to June 2024, there were 14 cases opened in Paris that would now be commenced in Milan. That indicates the likely rate of cases going forward. It is also noteworthy that in the classifications allocated to the Milan Central Division are a number of areas in which patent owners have been most likely to opt out their patents – these areas include pharmaceutical and therapeutic 2. Statistical Information 2.1 Types of Actions
patents. It is likely that more cases in this area will emerge as confidence in the system grows. The current caseload of the Unified Patent Court, as updated on 31 May 2025, shows that the Milan CD has received: • eight revocation actions, one of which was followed by a counterclaim for infringement; • one request for a declaration of non-infringe - ment; • one application for provisional measures; and • four applications for a cost decision. 2.2 Substantive Hearings Publicly available up-to-date information on hearings can be found on the UPC official web - site calendar. At the time of publication of this guide (30 June 2025), the following have been heard or scheduled. Public Oral Hearings There have been three public oral hearings held before the Milan CD: • one held on 16 October 2024 in the frame - work of an application for provisional meas - ures brought by Insulet Corporation against EOFlow; • one held on 13 November 2024 in the frame - work of a revocation action brought by Szy - mon Spyra against Amycel; and • one held on 4 June 2025 in the framework of a revocation action brought by Maschio Gaspardo against Spiridonakis Bros. A number of additional public oral hearings have already been scheduled for the coming months: • 15 July 2025 in EOFlow Co Ltd v Insulet Cor - poration;
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