Higher Regional Court Karlsruhe appoints new presiding judge
The Higher Regional Court Karlsruhe has appointed a new presiding judge to the 6th Civil Senate. He brings relevant experience in patent proceedings at the Regional Court Mannheim and is also a judge at the UPC's Mannheim local division.
14 July 2025 by Christina Schulze
Holger Kircher will become presiding judge of the 6a Civil Senate at Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court. The court’s presidium noted this in two resolutions in June.
Kircher currently divides his time between Mannheim Regional Court and the UPC’s local division Mannheim. He spends 20% of his working time at the UPC. In this role he was part of the panel that dealt with the proceedings between the medical device manufacturers MED-EL and Advanced Bionics.
Holger Kircher
At Mannheim Regional Court, Kircher was presiding judge of the 2nd Civil Chamber. He delivered judgments in SEP cases such as Nokia vs Vivo.
Mannheim is the third most important location for patent disputes in Germany. However, the number of cases has fallen sharply over the past two years. New cases fell by 30% to 49 in 2024. At its peak in 2017, Mannheim saw 215 new cases.
Kircher studied law in Heidelberg and graduated with a doctorate. The 59-year-old has held various positions at Mannheim Regional Court and the Higher Regional Court Karlsruhe. Throughout his career he has mainly been assigned to chambers dealing with patent disputes, soft IP and antitrust law.
