Abbott’s preliminary injunction victory means Sinocare is banned from selling its iCan i3 continuous glucose monitor (CGM) offering in UPC territory. The UPC decision overturned a prior ruling from a local division (LD) of The Hague, which said it was more likely than not” that Sinocare infringed a certain patent.
The medtech giant, which develops the FreeStyle Libre CGM platform, has previously claimed that Sinocare’s iCan i3 CGM system infringed upon its three-dimensional trademark. That trademark covered a white, round disc for the company’s leading FreeStyle Libre on-body unit (OBU). In a definitive ruling issued in February 2025, the High Court of Justice (Chancery Division) of England and Wales ruled in Sinocare’s favor.
However, the UPC Court of Appeal has now issued a ruling regarding EP 3 988 471, a European patent covering the sensor and on-body device in tandem with Sinocare’s iCan smartphone app. This follows a March ruling that upheld a preliminary injunction against Sinocare related to another patent, according to Juve-Patent.
In this case, Abbott accused Sinocare of infringing a patent with the device referred to as the GlucoMen iCan and its software application. The UPC ruled Abbott’s appeal as valid, labeling a cross-appeal from Sinocare “inadmissable.”
The UPC includes 18 member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden. It also has six signatory states (Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland and Slovakia) and three other EU member states (Croatia, Poland and Spain).
