Exclusive jurisdiction clauses and allegations of patent invalidity (Ablynx v VHsquared)

Article summary

Dispute Resolution analysis: The Court of Appeal has overruled the High Court by holding that where there is prima facie evidence of a valid exclusive jurisdiction clause in a licence in favour of a different EU Member State, the UK proceedings should be stayed and the question of jurisdiction deferred to that Member State, even in cases where the validity of UK patents had been raised as a defence. The Court of Appeal considered the interplay of various articles of Regulation (EU) 1215/2012, Brussels I (recast) regulation and found that the judge had confused rules governing procedure with rules governing the substantive decision. By seeking to answer the substantive questions, rather than deferring those to the Member State which had the right to decide the question of jurisdiction, the judge had unwittingly usurped the authority of the Member State named in the exclusive jurisdiction clause. Written by Elsa Glauert and Amy Crouch at Simmons & Simmons LLP.