Aequo secures victory for Syngenta before the Supreme Court in a dispute over unlawful suspension of proceedings

Aequo secures victory for Syngenta before the Supreme Court in a dispute over unlawful suspension of proceedings 
 
On 21 April 2026, the Supreme Court upheld the cassation appeal of Syngenta Crop Protection AG in case No. 910/14889/24 and overturned the ruling of the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal suspending the appellate proceedings. 
 
The dispute concerns the protection of Syngenta’s intellectual property rights to an invention which, according to the findings of the first-instance court, was used in the defendants’ seed treatment product. 
 
The Supreme Court supported Syngenta’s position and confirmed that the existence of parallel proceedings challenging the validity of a patent does not, in itself, constitute grounds for suspending the consideration of a case concerning patent infringement. 
 
The Court noted that the appellate court’s conclusion that this case could not be considered before the resolution of another dispute – concerning the invalidity of the patent and the invention’s compliance with the conditions for legal protection – was erroneous. The first-instance court had already established the validity of the patent rights and their ownership by the claimants as of the time when the alleged infringement of the intellectual property rights occurred. 
 
The Supreme Court separately emphasised that an unjustified suspension of proceedings leads to delays in the judicial process and violates Article 6(1) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This provision requires national courts to ensure a prompt and effective examination of cases within a reasonable time. 
 

“This ruling of the Supreme Court sets an important procedural benchmark for Ukrainian IP disputes. The Court has effectively limited the practice of delaying patent disputes through parallel claims challenging patent validity, and the ruling itself will have a significant impact on future case law,” comments Tetiana Kudrytska, Partner at Aequo.  

The Aequo project team included Tetiana Kudrytska, Nataliya Dryuk and Yeva Babenko.