On July 14, 2026, the Appeals Chamber of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) issued its second-instance ruling in the Fujifilm v. Kodak printing plate patent case, finding that Kodak’s Sonora series of offset printing plates infringed Fujifilm’s EP 3476616 patent, prohibiting the continued sale of the relevant products in Germany, and rejecting Fujifilm’s request to extend the injunction to the United Kingdom.

This ruling marks yet another reversal in this two-and-a-half-year-long patent battle. Previously, in April 2025, the Mannheim Regional Division had ruled in the first instance that EP 174 was valid and had been infringed, while invalidating EP 616 on the grounds of lack of inventive step. In July of the same year, the Mannheim Division exercised long-arm jurisdiction to extend the injunction to the United Kingdom. In January 2026, the Mannheim Regional Court fined Kodak 1.72 million euros for allegedly violating its injunction obligations.

However, on June 2, 2026, the Court of Appeal held that Kodak had successfully invoked a “private right of prior use,” as it had manufactured and made the Sonora X plates commercially available for sale prior to the priority date of the patent in question (March 30, 2018), and that Fujifilm had failed to prove that Kodak’s conduct in the United Kingdom constituted infringement. Consequently, the Court of Appeal set aside the German and UK injunctions and fines related to EP 174.

On July 14, 2026, the case took another turn when the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Appeal ultimately ruled that the narrowed EP 616 patent was valid and that Kodak’s Sonora X, Sonora Xtra-2, and Sonora Xtra-3 offset printing plates constituted infringement. However, the Court of Appeal also explicitly rejected the request to extend the injunction to the UK, on the grounds that Fujifilm had failed to prove that Kodak had infringed the patent in the UK.

IP Finance will continue to monitor subsequent developments.

Case Background

In October 2023, Fujifilm filed lawsuits against Kodak at the Mannheim and Düsseldorf Regional Divisions of the UPC, alleging that Kodak’s Sonora series of offset printing plates infringed three European patents;

In April 2025, the Mannheim Regional Division issued its first-instance judgment: it found the EP 174 patent valid and infringed, while declaring the EP 616 patent invalid on the grounds of lack of inventive step;

In July 2025, the Mannheim Regional Division issued its first long-arm jurisdiction injunction against the United Kingdom—a non-UPC member state—regarding EP 174, and ordered Kodak to produce its accounts;

In January 2026, the Mannheim Regional Division imposed a contempt of court fine of 1.72 million euros on Kodak for failing to fully comply with its disclosure and recall obligations;

On June 2, 2026, the UPC Court of Appeal set aside the German and UK injunctions related to EP 174, as well as the €1.72 million fine;

On July 14, 2026, the UPC Court of Appeal issued its latest ruling on the EP 616 patent, finding the narrowed patent valid and Kodak in infringement, and granting an injunction in Germany, but rejecting the request to extend the injunction to the UK.