President van de arrondissementsrechtbank 's-Gravenhage, vonnis van 22/05/1995 Raychem Corporation / Thermon Benelux BV e.a.
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:NL:RBSGR:1995:AK3518
Date: 1995-05-22
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968
Origin: Netherlands

81995NL0522(01)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE SUMMARY
JURE SUMMARY
The plaintiff, a company from California, is the holder of a Dutch patent as well as parallel Belgian and French patents for a certain type of equipment. The defendants, Dutch, French, and American companies, produce comparable equipment in the United States and sell it in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. In separate proceedings, they sought the annulment of the plaintiff’s Dutch patent. In the present summary proceedings, the plaintiff seeks before the President of the Rechtbank of 's-Gravenhage (NL) a prohibition against the defendant preventing them from infringing its Dutch, Belgian, and French patents. Further, the plaintiff requests that the equipment already delivered by the defendants to third parties be taken back. The non-Dutch defendants contested the jurisdiction of the President of the Rechtbank of 's-Gravenhage (NL).
The President examines whether jurisdiction with respect to the Dutch defendant leads to jurisdiction with respect to the claim against the defendant domiciled in France. The President finds that such jurisdiction may be based on Article 6(1) Brussels Convention when the claim against this defendant is closely connected to those against the Dutch defendant. The claims against the Dutch defendant relate to a violation in the Netherlands of a Dutch patent and to a violation in Belgium of a Belgian patent, while the claim against the French defendant concerns a violation in France of a French patent. In case of parallel national patents, a sufficiently close connection is less obvious than in the case of a European patent. The President concludes, however, that all the patents concern the same equipment and that all the defendants belong to the same group of companies. Therefore, he affirms jurisdiction.