“Thomas Kühnen’s retirement brings opportunity for renewal in Düsseldorf”

On the evening of 2 February, respected figures from the German patent scene arrived at the exclusive Düsseldorf Industrie-Club to pay tribute to Thomas Kühnen. The highly respected but controversial presiding judge of the 2nd Civil Senate at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court has now officially retired. Over 100 guests attended the celebratory dinner.

Werner Richter, president of the higher regional court, did the honours. Klaus Grabinski, president of the Unified Patent Court, travelled from Luxembourg to attend, while other distinguished lawyers and judges arrived from country-wide to pay tribute to the renowned patent judge.

Even the North Rhine-Westphalia minister for justice, Benjamin Limbach, came to bid farewell to his former most valuable horse in the stable. The presence of a minister at a farewell ceremony for a judge is certainly not a matter of course – at least not in Germany. However, the regional court’s three patent chambers, and the higher regional court’s two patent senates, are the Düsseldorf court’s flagships. Above all, the senates bring a lot of money into the government’s coffers.

But could the golden age of the Düsseldorf patent court be nearing its end?

Thomas Kühnen

Not everyone’s cup of tea

The minister had many words of praise for Thomas Kühnen, and all the speakers agreed: the judge has played a key role in shaping Düsseldorf as a patent location since 1991. This was firstly in Kühnen’s role as presiding judge of a patent chamber, then in his role at the 2nd Civil Senate.

And, as one of the best-known patent judges in Europe, observers regarded him as an outstanding expert right until the end of his career.

Of Kühnen, one speaker at the ceremony remarked that, “the patent community is divided into followers and non-followers”. As such, the judge’s non-followers could be particularly disgruntled by his brusque way of conducting hearings. Foreign lawyers in particular did not always feel that Kühnen treated them well.

But even Düsseldorf lawyers could feel Kühnen’s wrath when he was not satisfied with their pleadings. Legal quality, as Thomas Kühnen himself emphasised on Friday evening, has always been an important yardstick.

End of the Düsseldorf golden age

But anyone who dined alongside Thomas Kühnen on that rainy Friday evening marred by public transport strikes could also sense that an era was coming to an end.

Düsseldorf has long dominated the patent business in Europe with unattainably high case numbers. To this day, no other court handles as many patent cases as the capital of North-Rhine Westphalia; for decades, local law firms reaped the benefits. But the number of cases at the Düsseldorf courts is not as high as it was in the early 2010s.

Strong competition has emerged in the form of the Munich patent courts, and the UPC recently began its work. Should the pan-European court develop, as planned, into the leading patent court in Europe, Düsseldorf will also feel the effects. Last Friday’s guests were therefore also bidding farewell to the golden age of the city.

While the UPC local division in Munich already handles one third of all infringement actions and two thirds of PI proceedings, Düsseldorf follows in second place. This might not mean anything: after all, the Munich local division must first prove itself with good judgments. It must demonstrate it can handle the many cases quickly.

Nevertheless, a new era of challenge has begun. Perhaps Thomas Kühnen even sensed this during his final years in office. After all, he did not warm to the UPC; he did not even apply to be a UPC judge.

Influence remains great

Anyone looking closely at the Düsseldorf Industrie-Club last Friday evening could not fail to notice that an entire table towards the rear was filled with judges, many of whom represent the future of the Düsseldorf patent courts. Stephan Fricke is Kühnen’s successor, Ulrike Voß heads the sister senate in Düsseldorf, and Sabine Klepsch presides over one of the three patent chambers. They all learned their craft under Thomas Kühnen.

Another glance also reveals that the city’s influence on European patent law is likely to remain intact. Many of those present hold central positions at the UPC – for example, Ulrike Voß heads the Munich central division, with Sabine Klepsch driving the local division in Hamburg. Ronny Thomas was also present. He is on the presidium of the new court and heads the Düsseldorf local division.

Finally, Klaus Grabinski. He began his career as a judge in Düsseldorf shortly after Kühnen, which led him, eventually, to the office of UPC president.

New horizons?

As a patent location, the Düsseldorf courts have always known how to place their talents well, in order to secure influence. This was one of the reasons for the presence of the justice minister for North Rhine-Westphalia on Friday night. Another study of the judges’ table also revealed that things could be different in the future: certainly more European, with more women. It might be calmer, with less brusqueness between the four walls.

For now, however, this is speculation. Future developments aside, it was probably Kühnen’s legendary appearances in the patent courtroom which garnered the most attention, from the press and lawyers alike.