Düsseldorf local division gains third judge

Jule Schumacher is currently a judge at the 2nd Civil Senate of the Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf under presiding judge Stephan Fricke. In future, she will be also on the panel alongside Ronny Thomas and Bérénice Thom at the UPC. The court announced this yesterday.

Similarly to the Mannheim local division, the Düsseldorf local division will also decide cases in two different compositions. Thomas, as presiding judge, will handle proceedings together with either Thom or Schumacher. In addition, there will be a foreign judge and, if necessary, a technically qualified judge. JUVE Patent learned this from well-informed sources.

No second panel in Düsseldorf

Unlike the Munich division, which has the most cases, Mannheim and Düsseldorf will not have two separate panels. With 51 infringement and nine PI cases, the Düsseldorf division recently had the second highest number of cases. The Munich local division currently has 81 infringement and 19 PI cases, as well as one declaration of non-infringement case. Mannheim is in third place with 33 cases.

At present it is unclear how much of Schumacher’s work will concern UPC cases. Judges Thomas and Thom are already working 100% at the UPC. Ronny Thomas is also a member of the UPC Presidium.

Three days ago, the Düsseldorf local division took a stance on long-arm jurisdiction. In the dispute between Fujifilm and Kodak, the judges stated that if the defendant is based in a UPC member state, the court has jurisdiction to hear the case regarding the UK part of the patent-in-suit. The ruling caused a stir in the patent community.

Düsseldorf career

Schumacher continues to work at the Higher Regional Court. Its 2nd Civil Senate is currently the only remaining senate for patent litigation. There were previously two senates but, following Ulrike Voss’ move to the UPC in May 2024, her 15th Civil Senate relinquished responsibility for patent cases. Since then, the 2nd Civil Senate has heard all appeals in patent cases. Jule Schumacher has been a member of this senate for several years — firstly under Thomas Kühnen and then under his successor Stephan Fricke.

For some time Schumacher also worked on the 4a Civil Senate of Düsseldorf Regional Court under Tim Crummenerl.

Further appointments expected

According to sources, the UPC will likely appoint another UPC judge in addition to Schumacher. The court is also significantly increasing the capacity of a number of judges. JUVE Patent does not yet know specific details on this.