Munich overtakes Düsseldorf as Europe’s busiest patent court

The seven German courts specialising in patents recorded 551 new patent lawsuits in 2024 – an 8.2% decline compared to the previous year. This marks the third consecutive year that figures for German patent courts have fallen. Combined, the seven most important German regional courts with specialised chambers had already seen a decline in new cases involving technical property rights in 2022 and 2023.

In 2023, they recorded only 601 cases, marking a sharp decline of 23.6% compared to the previous year. In 2022, the number of new cases had already fallen by 6.4%. German patent courts last saw an increase in new cases in 2021, when patent owners filed 841 new cases with the seven regional courts.

In 2024, the regional courts of Düsseldorf, Mannheim and Munich remained Germany’s busiest patent courts. Of the total 551 cases filed, these three received 481. However, figures have fallen sharply in recent years, especially in Düsseldorf and Mannheim. Düsseldorf recorded only 201 new cases in 2024. At its peak in 2017, there were 499. Since then, the number of cases has fallen, excepting in 2021 and 2022, with last year seeing a further 15.2% decline.

The number of new cases in Mannheim recently fell by 30% to 49. This means the location has seen a dramatic dive for the second consecutive year. At its peak in 2017, Mannheim saw 215 new cases.

Changing of the guard

In contrast, Munich Regional Court was the only court among the top three to record an increase in cases. The court is particularly attractive to SEP holders because its two chambers often issue injunctions against implementers, as in the Nokia vs Amazon case over fire sticks. The court registered 231 new cases in 2024 compared to 215 in 2023. In 2022 the figure was 216.

For the first time, Munich Regional Court has now overtaken Düsseldorf as Germany’s busiest court. For over three decades, the three patent chambers of Düsseldorf Regional Court had attracted the highest number of cases. Munich’s attractiveness to SEP holders has had a detrimental effect on Düsseldorf’s caseload.

With a 67% rise, Frankfurt Regional Court was the second German court to see a significant increase. However, at 30 cases, the court remains at a considerably lower level than the top three. The three remaining courts — Hamburg, Braunschweig and Nuremberg — also had fewer new cases in 2024 than in the previous year.

For years, JUVE Patent has researched figures at the most important German patent courts, as well as those in France, the Netherlands and the UK. In addition to the number of new cases concerning technical property rights, the editorial team also asks courts how many lawsuits they settled during the same period.

While the regional courts in Düsseldorf and Mannheim did not provide information on this, Munich Regional Court decided 80 proceedings by judgment last year. A further 187 proceedings ended by other means, for example by settlement or claim withdrawal.

Frankfurt Regional Court issued 31 judgments, with six proceedings ending by other means. In Hamburg, judges handed down 13 judgments, with 16 proceedings ending by other means. Braunschweig Regional Court issued four judgments, while two proceedings ended by other means. Nuremberg judges handed down three judgments, with twelve cases ending by other means.

Munich leads at UPC

In contrast to Germany, the overall number of new cases at the two UK courts of first instance recently rose slightly by 6.9%. However, the UK High Court recorded a slight decline in new cases. JUVE Patent does not yet have the latest figures from France and the Netherlands.

According to many experts, the falling figures in Germany over the past three years are largely due to the launch of the UPC. The four German local divisions of Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Mannheim and Munich are among the strongest at the court of first instance.

According to its own figures, the UPC recorded 752 cases in February. Of these, 27.3% are pending at the Munich local division. Düsseldorf local division follows with 16.4%. Only the Paris central division, with 14.3% of cases, can keep pace with the German divisions. The local divisions of Mannheim and Hamburg follow with 8.8% and 7.6% of cases, respectively.

Munich local division with its two panels under presiding judges Matthias Zigann and Ulrike Voß recently saw 90 infringement actions. Düsseldorf has seen 58 infringement cases filed, Mannheim 39 and Hamburg 21. In contrast, Paris local division received 17 infringement cases.

This means Munich now tops the list for both UPC and German regional courts for the first time. No other court location in Europe is likely to be hearing more cases concerning technical property rights. For the past 30 years, Düsseldorf had always been considered Europe’s busiest patent court.

Significant changes to judiciary

The UPC has also affected the composition of national chambers at regional courts. In recent months, the UPC has not only appointed additional German judges — Daniel Voß, Dirk Böttcher and Jule Schumacher — but also increased the working hours of judges such as Bérénice Thom in Düsseldorf, Böttcher in Mannheim and Tobias Pichlmaier in Munich to 100%. Their absence is now felt at the national courts.

The UPC has also announced its plans to appoint more judges to the Court of Appeal and first-instance courts in 2025. However, officials did not specify which countries the judges would come from.

The migration of judges to the UPC has necessitated restructuring at almost all German patent courts. Following Böttcher’s move to the UPC, Thomas Schmidt took over as presiding judge of Civil Chamber 14 at Mannheim Regional Court. This chamber handles patent proceedings alongside the 2nd Civil Chamber, led by Holger Kircher, who also serves as a UPC judge at the Mannheim local division.

However, Düsseldorf has seen the most changes. In May 2024, Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court dissolved one of its two patent senates. Following Ulrike Voß’s departure to the UPC, the 15th Civil Senate ceased handling patent proceedings. All patent appeals are now handled by the 2nd Civil Senate under presiding judge Stephan Fricke.

Following Thom’s complete move to the UPC, Tilmann Büttner now presides over Civil Chamber 4a. Daniel Voß and Sabine Klepsch continue to lead the other two patent chambers, 4b and 4c. Both also serve as UPC judges at the Munich and Hamburg local divisions respectively.

Continuity in Munich

Munich Regional Court had already anticipated the decline in cases two years ago and stopped assigning new patent cases to a third chamber. Since then, the 7th Civil Chamber under Oliver Schön and the 21st Civil Chamber under presiding judge Georg Werner have handled patent cases. Werner has led his chamber since 2021, while Schön became presiding judge of his chamber in 2023.

At Frankfurt Regional Court, presiding judge Mantz heads Civil Chamber 6, which handles patent matters. In Hamburg, Civil Chamber 27 under presiding judge Weihrauch and Civil Chamber 15 under presiding judge Szodruch-Arnold are responsible for cases concerning technical property rights. In Nuremberg, presiding judge Schroeter leads Civil Chamber 19, while in Braunschweig, Civil Chamber 9 handles IP cases.