Raccords et Plastiques Nicoll v.First Plast France, First Plast S.R.L., First Corporation, Plasticos First Iberica S.L.
Paris (FR) Local Division · UPC-000274
Raccords et Plastiques Nicoll (RPN), a French company specializing in plastic connection and drainage systems, sued four entities of the First group for infringement of European patent EP3272938 concerning its Connecto®invisible channel grid. RPN alleged that the defendants' Ghost channel grid covers and Pratiko channel gutters infringed claims 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the patent, both literally and by equivalence. The Local Division of Paris rejected all of RPN's infringement claims, finding that the alleged equivalent function did not arise from the patent's characteristics and was not easily deducible by a person skilled in the art, and ordered RPN to bear all costs and pay a provisional sum of 70,000 euros to the defendants.
