1. Key takeaways
Foreseeable professional commitments and school holidays do not amount to “exceptional circumstances” under R. 9.3(a) RoP
Representatives before the Court are expected to organise their professional activities and make appropriate arrangements within their legal teams so as to ensure compliance with procedural time periods.
A heavy workload resulting from other pending cases does not, in itself, justify an extension, particularly where the competing professional commitments were foreseeable. The applications do not establish that the matters identified could not have been addressed through appropriate advance planning, allocation of work or other reasonable organisational measures. This applies all the more to commitements that fall after the expiry of the time period for which extension is sought.
School holidays (here: the Bavarian summer and autumn holiday periods) and the following absences within the representatives’ legal team are likewise forseeable circumstances that should be taken into account when organising the preparation of the Statements of grounds of appeal.
Absence of a fixed oral hearing date does not justify extending the written procedure under R. 220.1(a), R. 224.2(a) and R. 226 RoP
Procedural time periods serve to ensure the orderly and expeditious progress of the proceedings. Extending the time period for lodging the Statements of grounds of appeal would postpone the completion of the written procedure and, consequently, the point at which the appeals may proceed to their subsequent stages.
2. Division
Court of Appeal, Luxembourg
3. UPC number
UPC_CoA_146/2026, UPC_CoA_147/2026, UPC_CoA_148/2026
4. Type of proceedings
Appeal proceedings
5. Parties
Appellants: Promosome LLC; The Scripps Research Institute
Respondents 1–5: BioNTech SE; BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH; BioNTech Manufacturing Marburg GmbH; BioNTech Innovative Manufacturing Services GmbH; BioNTech Europe GmbH
Respondents 6–9: Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium NV; Pfizer SAS; Pfizer AB; Pfizer, Inc.
6. Patent(s)
EP 2 401 365
7. Jurisdictions
UPC
8. Body of legislation / Rules
R. 9.3(a), R. 220.1(a), R. 224.2(a), R. 226 RoP
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