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CISG-online number
5710
Case name
AB Science SA v. Biocon Ltd.
Jurisdiction
France
Court
Cour d'appel de Paris (Court of Appeal Paris)
Chamber
Pôle 5 – Chambre 5 (Division 5 – Chamber 5)
Date of decision
10 September 2020
Case nr./docket nr.
18/00176
Claimant 1
Name
AB Science SA
Place of business
France
Role in transaction
Buyer
Respondent 1
Name
Biocon Ltd.
Place of business
India
Role in transaction
Seller
Case History
AB Science SA v. Biocon Ltd.
Tribunal de Commerce de Paris (Commercial Court Paris)
France, 30 November 2017 – 2014036722, CISG-online 5665
Present decision affirming
Seller 1
Name
Biocon Ltd.
Place of business
India
Role in trade
Manufacturer of the goods sold
Buyer 1
Name
AB Science SA
Place of business
France
Role in trade
Manufacturer purchasing goods as supplies for production purposes
Category of goods
54: Medicinal and pharmaceutical products
Goods as per contract
450 kilograms of "masitinib mesylate" (an active medicinal ingredient)
Price
693'000.00 USD (U.S. Dollar)
CISG applicable
yes, agreement of the parties
CISG applied
yes
Key CISG provisions interpreted and applied
Art. 38(1); Art. 39(1); Art. 39(2)
Relevant CISG provisions not cited
Art. 40
Editorial remark
by Ulrich G. Schroeter
The present appellate decision concerned a sales contract for a batch of medical ingredient sold and delivered to a French buyer (AB Science SA, the company that had invented the ingredient) by the Indian manufacturer Biocon Ltd., to whom the manufacturing of the ingredient had been outsourced. 

The goods were delivered in March 2010, but the buyer only conducted laboratory inspections in 2013, discovering that the goods did not meet the contractual specifications. The resulting legal dispute between the parties mostly focused on the question whether the buyer had lost any right to rely on the non-conformity due to Art. 39(1), (2) CISG, or whether a clause in the contract ("BIOCON garantit et accepte de manière irrévocable que tout API [le Masitinib Livré] qui ne répondrait pas aux spécifications de l´Annexe 1 sera remboursé par BIOCON au taux de 1.540 USD par kg dans les 20 jours suivant la première notification par AB Science à BIOCON d'une telle non-conformité aux spécifications") constituted a derogation from Art. 39 and/or a "guarantee" in the sense of Art. 39(2) CISG in fine. 

The Court of Appeal denied the latter two questions and accordingly dismissed the buyer´s claim for repayment of the contract price paid in accordance with Art. 39 CISG.
Comment on this decision 1
Claude Witz, Ben Köhler & Francis Limbach, 'Panorama: Droit uniforme de la vente internationale de marchandises (janvier 2020 - juin 2021)', Recueil Dalloz (D.) (2021), 2017–2027, at 2024–2025 [– in French]
Full text of decision 1
Full text of decision
Original language: French