Author: Kerstin Galler
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Court of Appeal, April 30, 2026, order rejecting appeal as inadmissible, UPC_CoA_1/2026
Ex officio assessment of admissibility: The Court of Appeal verifies ex officio compliance with the time limits and rules governing the appeal. When deciding on the admissibility of an appeal, an order rejecting the appeal as inadmissible does not exceed the scope of the claims (sec. 18, sec. 32). Strict application of rules governing the procedures…
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LD Helsinki, April 29, 2026, decision on infringement and validity, UPC_CFI_214/2023, UPC_CFI_403/2025
Parties select equivalence approach absent CoA case law: When assessing an issue where there is no Court of Appeal case law, such as equivalence, and where both parties have argued based on the same Court of First Instance case law, legal certainty and/or the right of defence guides the local division to adopt a similar…
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LD Helsinki, April 29, 2026, order disposing of provisional measures application, ACT_551054/2023
Key takeaway PI application devoid of purpose: If a provisional measures application has become devoid of purpose and hence there is no longer need to adjudicate on it, the Court shall dispose of it based on R. 360 RoP and on the request of the parties the Court shall make a cost decision and can…
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LD Düsseldorf, April 28, 2026, procedural order, UPC_CFI_869/2025
Admissibility of submissions : The admissibility of the documents and arguments submitted is a question of fact. Whether the defendant’s submissions in its rejoinder regarding the motion to amend are relevant to the decision in the present case, and whether they were filed late requires a thorough analysis. Such an assessment can only be made…
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Court of Appeal, April 27, 2026, order on provisional measures, UPC_CoA_917/2025
Waiver of defence relating to invalidity: Unlike proceedings on the merits, where the Statement of defence shall include a Counterclaim for revocation (R. 25.1 RoP) if there is an assertion that the patent alleged to be infringed is invalid, an invalidity defence raised in proceedings for provisional measures is not a separate action. Similarly, a…
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Court of Appeal, standing judge, April 28, 2026, order on request for discretionary review, UPC_CoA_56/2026
Request for retroactive term extension should be made as soon as possible.: In the case at issue, the Respondent filed its implicit request for retroactive term extension as an alternative request to the request for the re-establishment of rights within the time period for the latter. The Court of Appeal held that it was not…
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LD Munich, April 23, 2026, order on cost security, UPC_CFI_617/2025
FRAND security of defendant does not relieve claimant from providing cost security : A bank guarantee provided by a defendant, as part of an objection of compulsory licence under antitrust law, as security for any potential licence payment obligations towards the claimant and thus to avert an injunction claim asserted by the claimant (“FRAND security”),…
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Court of Appeal, December 29, 2025, decision on revocation action, UPC_CoA_71/2025
Accuracy of translation to be checked at an early stage: The Appellant argued that a translation of a Korean prior art document filed by the Respondent in first instance was incorrect and at best inaccurate and filed own translations on appeal. The CoA holds that these translations are late filed and shall be disregarded. Given…
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Court of Appeal, Standing Judge, December 29, 2025, order regarding an application for suspensive effect, UPC-COA-0000936/2025
No “manifestly” erroneous decision if point of contention is a complex issue requiring in-depth-analysis: The Appellant argues that the impunged order of the LD Mannheim is based on the evidently incorrect assumption that a decision by the UK Court on a request for a court determined license by the Appellant would be equal to an…
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Court of Appeal, December 23, 2025, decision on application for withdrawal, UPC_CoA_523/2024
No waiver of court fees in the context of an application for withdrawal: In principle, pursuant to Rule 250 RoP, the court may waive payment of the fee for a rehearing in the circumstances contemplated by Rule 245.2(a) or (b) RoP (fundamental procedural defect or criminal offence). However, it can only be decided in the…
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Court of Appeal, December 22, 2025, decision on access to written pleadings and evidence, UPC-COA-0000886/2025
Interest in accessing documents not precluded by additional commercial interests: A law firm may also be a member of the public within the meaning of R. 262.1 (b) RoP, see already order of 9 January 2024, UPC_CoA_480, UPC_CoA_481/2024, Abbott v Powel Gilbert. The fact that a law firm (Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP) also pursues…
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Court of Appeal, December 19, 2025, decision on public access to the register, UPC_CoA_523/2024
No access to the register for a company that commercializes access to its subscribers: The objectives of balancing the interests pursuant to Art. 45 UPCA, and the requirement of representation ensure the proper conduct of proceedings, and would be compromised if access to written pleadings and evidence was granted pursuant to R. 262.1(b) RoP to…
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LD Mannheim, September 16, 2025, order on the production of evidence, UPC_CFI_247/2025
Production of license agreements in FRAND context ordered.: Pursuant to R. 190 RoP and taking into account the stage of the proceedings, the production of license agreements was ordered insofar as the claimant agreed to submit the license agreements specified by it but could not receive the consent of its respective contractual partners to submit…
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LD Mannheim, September 12, 2025, Order of the President of the Court of First Instance, UPC_CFI_481/2025
Key takeaway If the language of proceedings shall be changed and the parties’ interests are weighed, the defendant’s interests shall prevail in the event of equal outcome.: In the event that the weighing of interests of the defendant and the claimant results in a draw, the position of the defendant – having not initiated the…
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LD Paris, September 17, 2025, Procedural Order, UPC_CFI_697/2025
Key takeaway Appropriate length of objection is related to length of application for provisional measures.: The application filed had a length of 30 pages. Even though two intellectual property titles (a patent and its corressponding supplementary protection certificate) are at issue, the 470-page objection filed by the respondent was held to be inappropriate in the…
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LD Duesseldorf, September 12, 2025, procedural order on further exchanges of written pleadings, UPC_CFI_733/2024
Strict requirement for R. 36 RoP application for written submissions beyond those foreseen in the Rules: The correct means to introduce written pleadings outside the regime provided for in the Rules of Procedure is an application pursuant to R. 36 RoP. Such an application must be made prior to the date on which the judge-rapporteur…
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LD Duesseldorf, September 12, 2025, procedural order on subsequent application to amend patent, UPC_CFI_733/2024
Proportionality, flexibility, fairness, and equity are criterions for exercising discretion on admission of subsequent application to amend the patent: In exercising its discretion pursuant to R. 30.2 RoP, the court assesses whether an admission of a subsequent application to amend the patent complies with the principles of proportionality, flexibility, fairness, and equity. Substantial and specific…