Proportion of German judges at the UPC grows
The Unified Patent Court has appointed eight new technically qualified judges. Of these, seven have a technical focus on electronics and six hail from Germany. This further increases the proportion of German judges at the new European court.
25 June 2024 by Mathieu Klos
Following the appointment of eight new technically qualified judges yesterday, 37% of the Unified Patent Court’s technically qualified judges now come from Germany. These are Torsten Duhme, Christian Keller, Christoph Norrenbrock, Michael Quittkat, Jochen Thomas and Oliver Werner. The UPC also appointed Steven Richard Kitchen from Denmark and Johannes Mesa Pascasio from Austria. All new judges work part time.
German qualified judges
This means that 28 of the 75 technically qualified judges are German, while 15 are from France and seven from Italy. Of the 42 legally qualified judges, 15 come from Germany. The UPC also recently appointed new legally qualified judges – three of whom come from Germany, one from Italy and one from the Netherlands.
According to the UPC, the number of German applicants in the fields of electronics and physics was high. Prior to the spate of new appointments, there was already a significant proportion of German judges.
Furthermore, the German local divisions currently have the most proceedings. Of the 373 proceedings across all divisions, the Munich local division has 141, while the Düsseldorf local division has 50 proceedings. In addition, 44% of UPC proceedings are conducted in German.
Investment in electronics and physics
The new TQJs Duhme, Keller, Norrenbrock, Quittkat, Thomas, Kitchen and Mesa Pascasio provide a huge boost in electronics and physics. Oliver Werner is the only one of the eight new appointees to be deployed in another segment: biotechnology.
The UPC now has 21 technically qualified judges in electronics, which also includes mobile communications patents. Mobile communications cases at the UPC have risen considerably of late. Lenovo, for example, recently filed another lawsuit against Asustek with the Munich local division. Many proceedings concerning lighting technology for consumer goods are also related to electronics.
Eight judges are available for proceedings concerning physics. Together, these two areas represent the strongest segment in terms of judges. In addition, 22 technically qualified judges are active in mechanical engineering.
More patent attorneys
Three of the eight new technically qualified judges are currently working as patent attorneys in private practice: Torsten Duhme at German IP firm Witte Weller, Christoph Norrenbrock at Hamburg-based patent attorney firm Pavant and Steven Richard Kitchen at Danish outfit Copa.
However, the UPC also appointed four employees of the German Patent and Trademark Office: Christian Keller, Michael Quittkat, Jochen Thomas and Oliver Werner. Meanwhile, Johannes Mesa Pascasio works at the Austrian Patent Office and, according to the UPC, is also a technically qualified judge at the Higher Regional Court Vienna.
Before the UPC launched, the high proportion of patent attorneys from private practice appointed as TQJs in the first phase of recruitment led to some criticism from users. They feared that patent attorneys working in private practice or in patent departments could bring a certain bias to their role as judge. The UPC responded by adopting strict rules of conduct for its judges who work part-time in private practice. Then, in a second recruitment phase in 2023, the court predominantly appointed examiners and judges from national patent offices or patent courts as new technically qualified judges.
Milan central divison launches
In another key development, the central division in Milan is to open its doors on 27 June. Its presiding judge Andrea Postiglione took the oath of office last Friday. Postiglione is a judge at the Enterprise Specialised Section of the Court in Rome.
Back in May the UPC announced he had been appointed as one of the division’s three judges, together with Anna-Lena Klein from Germany and Marije Knijff from the Netherlands. Klein is currently a judge at the Munich Regional Court, while Knijff is a judge at the District Court of The Hague. Both will take their oath of office in Milan on 1 July.
The Milan central division will take over the areas originally intended for London as the third seat of the UPC central division before the UK withdrew from the project. It will have competence to hear proceedings concerning ‘human necessities’, including pharmaceuticals and medical devices, although SPC-related cases will remain with Paris.
