PATENT | UPC Paris Local Division on the “sufficient degree of certainty” for provisional measures

On 23 January 2026, the Paris Local Division of the Unified Patent Court (the UPC) issued its order in case UPC_CFI_808/2025 (Guardant Health, Inc. v. Sophia Genetics SA et al.), concerning a request for provisional measures under Article 62 of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (the UPCA) and Rule 211 of the Rules of Procedure ( the RoP).

The applicant alleged infringement of several European patents relating to genomic sequencing technologies and requested interim measures against the defendants’ genomic data analysis platform. The Court recalled that provisional measures may be granted only where the applicant demonstrates, with a sufficient degree of certainty, both the validity of the asserted patents and the alleged infringement. In this case, the Court found that two of the asserted patents were likely invalid due to added matter, as the claims resulted from multiple selections from broader disclosures without a clear pointer in the original application.

The Court also held that the evidence of infringement – mainly based on public sources such as press releases and webinars – was insufficient to establish that the defendants implemented the patented method.The urgency requirement was nevertheless found to be satisfied, even though the application had been filed approximately three months after the applicant became aware of the alleged infringement.

Accordingly, the Court dismissed the request, confirming that the grant of provisional measures before the UPC entails a particularly demanding evidentiary burden for the applicant, which is not mitigated by the technological complexity of the sector involved.

Newsletter n. 116 – March 2026