The Court of Justice ruled that claims against different companies located in different Member States marketing the same product regarding infringement of a a European patent in one jurisdiction were so closely connected that they may be decided jointly to prevent irreconcilable judgments in the sense of Art. 6(1) EC 44/2001. In the present circumstances, a provisional judgment regarding the validity of a patent on the basis of Art. 31 EC 44/2001 is not prohibited by Art. 22(4) Regulation 44/2001, because it regards only a provisional finding.
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