LD The Hague, 18 October 2023, order on language of the proceedings, UPC_CFI_239/2023

An infringement action was filed in Dutch before the LD The Hague. The Defendant and Applicant for the request, a small Spanish start-up, requested a change of the language of the proceedings into English which is the language of the granted European Patent.

The LD found that the request was admissible. But the LD made it clear that the request to change the language of the proceedings must be lodged with the statement of defense at the latest.

On the merits, the LD followed the Applicant’s request. They had argued that proceedings conducted in Dutch were disproportionate and an unnecessary financial burden for the small start-up and contradict the purpose of the UPC system to make European patent litigation affordable. According to the LD, this meets the requirements of Art. 49(5) UPCA. Two further points were of importance for the order: First, both parties had good command of English. Second, the Applicant did not request that documents already submitted in Dutch be translated into English. Hence, no further costs incurred for the Plaintiff/Respondent.