judgment
AMSTERDAM DISTRICT COURT
Netherlands Commercial Court
NCC District Court – Court in Summary Proceedings
Case number: C/13/737596
Judgment
28 September 2023
Applicant:
Duomed The Netherlands B.V.,
Veenendaal, the Netherlands,
represented by Mr. R. van Tricht, lawyer, (De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek)
Defendant:
FUJIFILM Europe B.V.
Tilburg, the Netherlands,
represented by Mr. M.R. Ruygvoorn en Ms. L.M.H. Koops, lawyers, (Van Benthem & Keulen).
1 Application
Applicant requests the Court to:
Order a preparatory evidentiary hearing by virtue of Article 186 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (‘DCCP’) and to appoint a judge before whom the examination of witnesses will be held, to set a time limit within which a copy of the NCC District Court's order must be sent or served to FUJIFILM, and to determine the place, day and hour at which the above-mentioned persons will be heard, with the order to be made provisionally enforceable.
On 3 August, 2023 the Court notified FUJIFILM of the receipt of the Application and requested FUJILFILM the reply ultimately by 24 August, 2023 whether it wished to defend itself against the Application. By letter of 23 August, 2023 FUJIFILM replied that it had decided to not put up a defence against the Application.
On 6 September, 2023 the Court requested to notify the Court of the parties’ non-availability dates for the months October and November, 2023 and the parties duly informed the Court thereafter.
2 Discussion
Under Article 186 of the DCCP an Application may be made to order a preparatory evidentiary hearing at the request of an Applicant. If such Application is made the Court allows the Defendant to defend itself against the Application. In this case the Defendant has notified the Court not to put up any defence against the Application.
The Court has verified that any and all requirements for ordering a preparatory evidentiary hearing are met. No grounds for dismissing the Application apply. Hence the Court will order a preparatory evidentiary hearing.
The Court will assign the hearing of witnesses to Judge N.A.J. Purcell.
By virtue of Article 188 DCCP, taking into account the parties’ availability dates, the Court will set as date and time for the preparatory evidentiary hearing 10 October, 2023, 10:00 am. The witnesses that will he heard on that day are [witness 1], [witness 2] and [witness 3]. The Court suggests that [witness 1] will be summoned to appear at the evidentiary hearing at 10:00 am, [witness 2] at 1:00 pm, and [witness 3] at 3:00 pm. The evidentiary hearing will take place in one of the rooms of the court building at IJdok 20, 1013 MM Amsterdam.
After the witnesses mentioned under 2.4 are heard, the judge will set a date for the hearing of the remaining witnesses ([witness 4] and [witness 5]) taking into account availability dates. The judge requests the parties to upload letters providing the availability dates into eNCC the day before the hearing.
3 Conclusion and order
THE COURT
Orders that a preparatory evidentiary hearing is held in accordance with the Applicant’s Application.
Assigns the hearing of the witnesses to Judge N.A.J. Purcell.
Sets as the date and time that the first three witnesses will be heard: 10 October 2023, 10:00 am.
Done by C.W.D. Bom, Judge, assisted by P.L.M. Peerenboom, Clerk of the Court.
Issued in public on 28 September 2023.
APPROVED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN eNCC