Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf banks on continuity with Thomas Kühnen successor

When it comes to appointing the heads of its patent chambers and senates, the Düsseldorf regional and higher regional courts traditionally plump for patent judges with pedigree and many years of experience in patent cases. Stephan Fricke, who is taking over the helm of the long-established 2nd Civil Senate, has been a patent judge in Düsseldorf since 1998. The position was previously headed by Thomas Kühnen, who officially retires tomorrow.

Kühnen’s named successor

Stephan Fricke

As such, the court announced today that it has appointed Fricke as presiding judge of the senate. The 58-year-old thus follows in big footsteps. Fricke has unofficially headed the senate since October, after Thomas Kühnen ended his active work in order to take his remaining vacation days.

Stephan Fricke became a judge in 1995. Three years later, he took up his work at the Düsseldorf Regional Court in patent litigation cases. In August 2000, he became deputy presiding judge of the 4th Civil Chamber but moved to the city’s higher regional court in 2002, where he worked alongside Thomas Kühnen in the 2nd Civil Senate between 2008 and 2020.

Fricke was deputy presiding judge at the 2nd Civil Senate for seven years. In 2021, Stephan Fricke moved as deputy presiding judge to the 15th Civil Senate. Ulrike Voß heads the senate responsible for patent litigation.

Breaking with tradition

However, unlike Ulrike Voß and Thomas Kühnen before him, Fricke has never headed one of Düsseldorf Regional Court’s three patent chambers.

Other presiding judges of the Düsseldorf patent chambers, such as Peter Meier-Beck, Klaus Grabinski or Tim Crummenerl, did not move to the higher regional court. Instead, they moved to the 10th Civil Senate at the German Federal Court of Justice, which is also responsible for patent cases.

Working together

In his long career, Stephan Fricke has played a role in a number of important decisions, such as the “No more Wild West” decision of the 2nd Civil Senate in the dispute between Unwired Planet and Huawei in 2019. On the pharma side, Fricke and his colleagues of the same senate dismissed the appeal of US originator Merck Sharp Dohme in a 2019 battle over cholesterol-lowering drug, Inegy. Following the judgment, various pharmaceutical companies continued selling their generic products in Germany.

Thomas Kühnen

Back in 2008, during his early days at the higher regional court, Fricke was part of the judicial panel that rendered a landmark judgment regarding Eli Lilly’s Olanzapine drug. Olanzapine is used to treat schizophrenia and other disorders of the central nervous system.

Although Eli Lilly’s patent was destroyed in the first instance, Thomas Kühnen and Stephan Fricke issued a preliminary injunction against several generic drug manufacturers. Later, another court reinstated the patent.

End of an era

Thomas Kühnen made his last public appearance as presiding judge of the chamber in September, when it heard an action for damages brought by Mylan Dura against Teva. Last October, the court awarded Mylan damages of almost €3.3 million plus interest.

But tomorrow, Kühnen will officially retire. During a ceremony, many of his fellow judges and lawyers will present him with a commemorative publication.