UPC adds five more legally qualified judges to its ranks

Three of the new judges will join the Munich and Düsseldorf divisions, which currently handle the majority of UPC cases. Thomas Adocker will join the central division in Munich. The Austrian lawyer joins from Taylor Wessing in Vienna, where he has been a partner since spring 2023, joining the practice from Schwarz Schönherr in April of that year. Taylor Wessing, has experienced significant changes recently. After establishing a new Paris practice and strengthening its Dutch team, the German practice lost several partners in October. The firm recently announced a merger with US firm Winston & Strawn for next year, which is expected to impact its patent practice.

Thomas Adocker

Ina Schnurr, currently presiding judge of the nullity senate at the German Federal Patent Court, will take up a position at the Munich local division. Due to the high case load in Munich, the local division had already considered establishing a third panel. However, the Administrative Committee had not yet reached a decision on this matter in the summer.

Meanwhile, Ingo Rinken will join the local division in Düsseldorf from the Higher Regional Court, where he worked alongside former presiding judge Ulrike Voß in the 15th senate. Following the senate’s dissolution, the 2nd civil senate remains the sole body handling patent cases at the Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf. There have been efforts to establish a second panel in Düsseldorf for some time. With the appointment of Rinken, this is now becoming increasingly likely.

Supreme court judges with EPO experience

The local division The Hague will welcome Robert van Peursem. He currently holds the position of Advocate General at the Dutch Supreme Court and Deputy Advocate General at the Benelux Court of Justice. He will join existing judges Edgar Brinkmann and Margot Kokke. According to JUVE Patent information, his appointment does not mean the local division in the Hague will have a second panel. However, with van Peursem the capacities of the Dutch division will be boosted to two full time equivalents, which are then distributed among the three judges Brinkman, Kokke and van Peursem. 

Goda Ambrasaité-Balyniené, who has served as a Lithuanian Supreme Court judge since 2019, will join the Nordic-Baltic Regional Division. She previously held positions at the Vilnius Regional Court and the country’s Court of Appeal.

Both van Peursem and Ambrasaité-Balyniené serve as legally qualified members of the EPO Enlarged Boards of Appeal, where they participated in significant decisions including G1/22 and G2/22 regarding EPO priority rules.

Florence Butin, President of the Court of First Instance, states: “As the workload at the Cort of First Instance continues to increase, I am pleased to see our teams growing accordingly. These new appointments of judges reflect the international character of the UPC and will strengthen the whole court, which will remain committed to our goal of continuing to issue high quality decisions within a reasonable timeframe“.