All UPC judges and their current capacities

The roster of judges at the UPC is steadily growing. While there were 124 legally and technically qualified judges in mid-2025, by the end of the year that number had already risen to 129. By March 2026, the number of judges had increased by another five as Thomas Adocker, Goda Ambrasaité-Balyniené, Ingo Rinken, Ina Schurr, and Robert van Peursem joined the UPC as legally qualified judges.

After Emanuela Germano’s retirement in April this year, Paolo Catalozzi took over her position at the Court of Appeal. He was previously a judge at the central division in Paris. Vincenzo Carni succeeded Catalozzi in Paris on 1 April. Carni is an experienced IP judge and remains a judge at the Court of First Instance in Milan

This means that the court has appointed eleven new legally qualified judges since the beginning of the year. In addition, more judges have upped their capacity to full-time, with 32 of the 58 legally qualified judges now working full-time for the UPC.

As well as increasing the number of judges, the court recently changed its structure again. At the turn of the year, the court implemented a third panel at the Court of Appeal. Then, at the beginning of March, the second panel at the local division Düsseldorf also became operational. However, the large number of panels at the German UPC divisions, which handle the majority of UPC cases, has recently sparked debate within the European patent community regarding a fairer distribution of cases within the UPC system.

Further promotions and an increase in capacities among the current judges are considered certain given the UPC’s budget.

UPC Court of Appeal

First panel

• Klaus Grabinski – full-time; presiding judge and president of Court of Appeal; member of the presidium; Germany
• Peter Blok – part-time; also professor for IP law at Utrecht University; the Netherlands
• Paolo Catallozzi – part-time; also judge at the Italian Supreme Court; Italy
• Emmanuel Gougé – full-time; France

Second panel

• Rian Kalden – full-time; presiding judge; member of the presidium; the Netherlands
• Patricia Rombach – full-time; Germany
• Ingeborg Simonsson – full-time; member of the presidium; Sweden

Third panel

• Ulrike Voß – full-time; presiding judge; Germany
• Bart van den Broek – full-time; The Netherlands
• Nathalie Sabotier – part time; Cour de cassation Paris; France

The Registry 

The Registry of the Court is located at the Court of Appeal in Luxembourg and has sub-registries at every division of the Court of First Instance.

Two other full-time UPC staff working closely with the presidium are registrar Alexander Ramsay and deputy Axel Jacobi. Ramsay is Swedish and Jacobi is from Germany. Though not judges, they play crucial roles in court operations from the main seats in Luxembourg and Paris.

UPC Central Division, Courts of First Instance

Central Division, Paris

• Florence Butin – full-time; president of the court of first instance; member of the presidium; France
• Vincenzo Carnì – part-time; also judge at the Court of First Instance Milan; Italy
• Maximilian Haedicke – part-time; also professor at the University of Freiburg; Germany
• François Thomas – part-time; also judge at the French Supreme Court; France
• Marjolein Visser – part-time; also judge at the District Court The Hague; the Netherlands
• Tatyana Zhilova – full-time; Bulgaria

Central Division, Milan

• Andrea Postiglione – part-time; presiding judge: also deputy Advocate General at the Supreme Court of Cassation in Rome; Italy
• Anna-Lena Klein – part-time; also judge at Munich Regional Court; Germany
• Marije Knijff – part-time; also judge at the District Court The Hague; the Netherlands

Central Division, Munich

• András Kupecz – full-time; presiding judge; the Netherlands
• Mélanie Bessaud – part-time; also conseiller référendaire at the French Supreme Court; France
• Daniel Severinsson – full-time; Sweden
• Thomas Adocker – full-time; former lawyer at Taylor Wessing; Austria

UPC Local Divisions, Courts of First Instance

Local division, Brussels

• Samuel Granata – full-time; presiding judge; Belgium

Local division, Copenhagen

• Peter Agergaard – full-time; presiding judge; Denmark

Local division, Düsseldorf

Panel 1

• Ronny Thomas –  full-time; presiding judge; Germany
• Jule Schumacher – full-time; Germany

Panel 2

• Bérénice Thom – full-time; presiding judge; Germany
• Ingo Rinken – full-time; former judge at the Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf; Germany

Local division, Hamburg

• Sabine Klepsch – full-time; presiding judge; Germany
• Stefan Schilling – full-time; Germany

Local division, Helsinki

• Petri Rinkinen – full-time; presiding judge; also judge at the Market Court Helsinki; Finland

Local division, Lisbon

• Rute Lopes – full-time; presiding judge; Portugal

Local division, Ljubljana

• Mojca Mlakar – part-time; presiding judge; also judge at the District Court Ljubljana; Slovenia

Local division, Mannheim

• Peter Tochtermann – full-time; presiding judge; member of the presidium; German
• Dirk Böttcher – full-time; Germany
• Tobias Sender – full-time; Germany

Local division, Milan

• Pierluigi Perrotti – full-time; presiding judge; member of the presidium; Italy
• Alima Zana – part-time; also judge at the District Court Milan; Italy

Local division, Munich

Panel 1

• Matthias Zigann – full-time; presiding judge; Germany
• Tobias Pichlmaier – full-time; Germany
• Ina Schnurr – full-time; former presiding judge at the German Federal Patent Court; Germany

Panel 2

• Daniel Voß – full-time; presiding judge; Germany
• Georg Werner – full-time; Germany

Local division, Paris

• Camille Lignieres – full-time; presiding judge; member of the presidium; France
• Carine Gillet – full-time; France

Local division, The Hague

• Edger Brinkman – part-time; presiding judge; also judge at the District Court The Hague; the Netherlands
• Margot Kokke – full-time; the Netherlands
• Robert van Persem – part-time; also Advocate General at the Dutch Supreme Court; the Netherlands

Local division, Vienna

• Walter Schober – part-time; presiding judge; also judge at the Higher Regional Court Vienna; Austria

Nordic-Baltic Regional Division (EE, LT, LV, SE)

• Stefan Johansson – full-time; presiding judge; Sweden
• Kai Härmand – part-time; also judge at the Harju County Court, Tallinn; Estonia
• Goda Ambrasaité-Balyniené – part-time; also judge at the Supreme Court of Lithuania; Lithuania

The full list of technically qualified judges

The 81 technically qualified judges are not permanently employed by the UPC. Almost without exception, they continue to work in their original positions as judges at a national patent court, as examiners at the European Patent Office, or as patent attorneys in private practice or in-house departments of companies. Technically qualified judges are therefore remunerated on an hourly basis depending on their caseload.

Biotechnology

• Arwed Burrichter – Germany; patent attorney at Cohausz & Florack
• Eric Enderlin – France; patent attorney at Novagraaf
• Rainer Friedrich – Germany; in-house patent attorney at CSL Behring
• Paolo Gerli – Italy; patent attorney at Botti & Ferrari
• Krister Karlsson – Finland; patent attorney at Kolster
• Cornelis Schüller – the Netherlands; consultant at IP-Portunity (also technically qualified judge at the District Court of The Hague)
• Oliver Werner – Germany; German Patent and Trademark Office

Chemistry and pharmaceutics

• Gabriele Alt – Germany; former technical judge at the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office (and biotechnology)
• Michael Alt – Germany; patent attorney in own firm
• Xavier Dorland-Galliot – France; chairman of the opposition commissions at the French IP Office (INPI)
• Renaud Fulconis – France; patent attorney at Bandpay & Greuter
• Rudi Goedeweeck – Belgium; in-house patent attorney at AGFA-Gevaert
• Andreas Gustafsson – Sweden; judge at the Patent and Market Court, Stockholm District Court
• Anna Hedberg – Sweden; judge at the Patent and Market Court, Stockholm District Court
• Stefanie Parchmann – Germany; patent attorney at Maiwald
• John Meidahl Petersen – Denmark; in-house patent attorney at Lundbeck
• Stefanie Philipps – Germany; judge at the German Federal Patent Court (not chemistry)
• Laure Sarlin – France; patent attorney at Beau de Loménie
• Martin Schmidt – France/Germany; patent attorney as single practitioner and at IXAS Conseil
• Casper Struve – Denmark; patent attorney at Zacco (also technically qualified judge at the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court)
• Steen Wadskov-Hansen – Denmark; patent attorney at Budde Schou
• Carola Wagner – Germany; judge at the German Federal Patent Court
• Erwin Wismeth – Germany; judge at the German Federal Patent Court (and physics)

Electricity

• Pascal Attali – France; in-house patent attorney at Bose Corp
• Eric Augarde – France; patent attorney at Brevalex
• Bertrand Cochet – France; in-house patent attorney at Orange
• Torsten Duhme – Germany; patent attorney at Witte Weller (and physics)
• Alain Dumont – Belgium; technical judges at the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office
• Guillaume Faget – France; examiner at the French IP Office (and physics)
• Hergen Kapels – Germany; judge at the German Federal Patent Court (and physics)
• Christian Keller – Germany; German Patent and Trademark Office (and physics)
• Steven Richard Kitchen – Denmark; patent attorney at Copa (and physics)
• Dennis Kretschmann – Germany; patent attorney at Boehmert & Boehmert
• Addick Land – the Netherlands: patent attorney in own firm (and mechanical engineering and
• physics)
• Klaus Loibner– Austria; examiner at the Austrian Patent Office (and physics)
• Udo Matter – Germany; judge at the German Federal Patent Court (and physics)
• Johannes Mesa Pascasio – Austria; Austrian Patent Office (also part time judge at the Higher Regional Court Vienna; and physics)
• Christoph Norrenbrock – Germany; patent attorney at Pavant (and physics)
• Michael Quittkat – Germany; German Patent and Trademark Office
• Wiem Samoud – France; examiner at the French IP Office (and physics)
• Alessandro Sanchini – Italy; patent attorney at Modiano & Partners
• Alessandra Sani – Italy/Germany; examiner at the German Patent and Trademark Office (and physics)
• Andrea Scilletta – Italy; patent attorney at IP Sextant
• Anthony Soledade – France; examiner at the French IP Office (and physics)
• Jochen Thomas – Germany; German Patent and Trademark Office
• Simon Walker – Finland; in-house patent attorney at Nokia

Mechanical engineering

• Michel Abello – France; patent attorney at Loyer & Abello
• Graham Ashley – Germany/UK; former technical judge at the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office
• Uwe Ausfelder – Germany; judge at the German Federal Patent Court
• Marc van der Burg – the Netherlands; judge at the Court of Appeal The Hague
• Koen Callewaert – Belgium; patent attorney at Bureau Callewaert
• Giorgio Checcacci – Italy; patent attorney at Checcacci & Partner
• Paolo Ernesto Crippa – Italy; patent attorney at Jacobacci & Partner
• Claus Elmeros – Denmark; patent attorney at Plougmann Vingtoft (also technically qualified judge at the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court)
• Frédéric Gaillarde – France; patent attorney at Cabinet FGPI
• Nicolai Geier – Germany; judge at the German Federal Patent Court (and physics)
• Merja Heikkinen-Keinänen – Finland; technical judge at the Market Court of Finland
• Bernard Ledeboer – the Netherlands; patent attorney at V.O.
• Jeroen Meewisse – the Netherlands; examiner at the Dutch Patent Office
• Elisabetta Papa – Italy; patent attorney at Società Italiana Brevetti
• Kerstin Roselinger – Sweden; judge at the Patent and Market Court, Stockholm District Court
• Beate Schenk – Germany; judge at the German Federal Patent Court
• Uwe Schwengelbeck – Germany; judge at the Federal Patent Court
• Max Tilmann – Germany; patent attorney in own firm
• Marie-Paule Vandeberg – Belgium; patent attorney at MPV Patent
• Patrice Vidon – France; patent attorney at Vidon
• Pascal Weber – France; former judge at the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office
• Stefan Wilhelm – Germany; in-house patent attorney at 3M

Physics

• Christian Daniel – Germany; former examiner at the European Patent Office
• Michael Fleuchaus – Germany; patent attorney at Fleuchaus & Gallo
• Anders Hansson – Sweden; patent attorney at EIP (also part time judge Patent and Market Court Stockholm)
• Dorothea Hofer – Germany; patent attorney at Prüfer & Partner
• Kristian Jauregui Urbahn – France; in-house patent attorney at Valeo
• Ulrike Keltsch – Germany; in-house patent attorney at Airbus
• Simon Michels – Germany; patent attorney at Stellbrink & Partner
• Gérard Myon – France; patent attorney at Lavoix
• Dörte Otten-Dünnweber – Germany; judge at German Federal Patent Court
• Lorenzo Parrini – Italy; in-house patent attorney at Philip Morris (also technical judge at the Swiss Federal Patent Court)
• Andrea Perronace – Italy; patent attorney at Jacobacci & Partners
• Patrik Rydman – Sweden; judge at the Swedish Patent and Market Court, Stockholm
• Selma Schenkl – Germany; judge at the German Federal Patent Court
• Christoph Schober – Germany; patent attorney at Flügel Preissner Schober Seidel

Update 02.03.2026: We have updated the overview with information regarding new hires and the current capacity of some judges.