Barcelona Commercial Court No. 1, SCA TISSUE FRANCE SAS vs. INDUSTRIE CARTARIE TRONCHETTI IBÉRICA S.L., 26 March 2018, Docket No. 84/2018

On 26 March 2016, Barcelona Commercial Court No. 1 issued a first-instance decision declaring that the offering and manufacturing by ICT of several models of toilet paper products infringed SCA’s patent rights. The Court fully upheld SCA’s complaint for patent infringement and entirely dismissed ICT’s invalidity counterclaim based on lack of inventive step.

On 17 May 2016, the company SCA TISSUE FRANCE SAS (hereinafter, SCA), currently ESSITY, filed a lawsuit before the Barcelona Commercial Courts for patent infringement against INDUSTRIE CARTARIE TRONCHETTI IBÉRICA S.L. (hereinafter, ICT). SCA claimed that several models of ICT’s toilet paper products infringed Spanish patent ES 2.299.237 (ES 237) entitled “paper product with three or more plies and method for manufacturing it” which is the validation in Spain of European patent EP 1.081.284, applied for on 31 August 1999, published on 7 March 2001, and granted on 2 January 2008. SCA argued that ICT’s products infringed claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9 of patent ES 237.

ICT countered that its products did not infringe claim 1 of SCA’s patent ES 237 and, in addition, filed a counterclaim for patent invalidity based on lack of inventive step of claims 1 to 6 of ES 237.

The entire summary (in English) can be read here.
The judgment (in English) can be read here.

Summary: Luis Fernández-Novoa, HOYNG ROKH MONEGIER