UPC increases German dominance with two new legally qualified judges

In a press release today, the UPC announced the appointment of Daniel Voß and Dirk Böttcher as legally qualified judges to the Munich and Mannheim local divisions respectively. Furthermore, presiding judge of the Munich central division Ulrike Voß will also bolster the local division in Munich.

Daniel Voß

Daniel Voß is presiding judge of the Düsseldorf Patent Chamber 4b. In 2022, JUVE Patent asked international patent experts for their favourite judges for patent infringement cases in Germany. Daniel Voß came top with 12.7% of the votes.

Many experts were disappointed that he was not among the initially appointed UPC legally qualified judges. Instead, the UPC appointed Ronny Thomas and Bérénice Thom to the Düsseldorf local division.

Dirk Böttcher is presiding judge of the 14th Civil Chamber at Mannheim Regional Court. As the chamber is responsible for patent and antitrust cases, Böttcher brings his experience in competition law to the new role.

At the start of the year, Mannheim Regional Court dissolved its third chamber following the decline in national patent lawsuits in the city and the launch of the Unified Patent Court. The Mannheim local division sees many mobile communications and SEP cases, for example Panasonic’s extensive wave of lawsuits against Xiaomi and Oppo.

Ulrike Voß is presiding judge of the 15th Civil Senate at Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court and presiding judge of the Munich central division. In the JUVE Patent survey she was voted one of the top five favourite German patent judges. She is now to add a third string to her bow with her appointment to the Munich local division.

Ulrike Voß

Rising caseload

The appointment of additional legally qualified judges comes after well-informed sources told JUVE Patent last week that the local division in Munich was to receive a second panel. The UPC did not confirm this when asked by JUVE Patent at the time.

The appointment of further judges in Munich was said to be a response to the large number of cases filed in the city’s local division since it began operations a year ago. The UPC’s press release appears to confirm this, stating “in response to the evolving caseload, the presidium of the UPC has decided to make necessary adjustments to the working time of certain part-time judges”.

Official UPC statistics from the end of March show the local division counted 43 infringment and 12 PI proceedings, plus 64 counterclaims for revocation. This is more than any other court in the UPC system.

President of the court of first instance, Florence Butin, says, ”Over the past 10 months, we have observed a consistent rise in caseload, particularly in some of the divisions of the courts. It is important for the presidium to ensure that UPC maintains the necessary capacity to manage this increase effectively.” 

In addition to bolstering the panels in Munich and Mannheim, the UPC also plans to increase judges at the central divisions in Paris and Munich, as well as the local divisions in Düsseldorf, Munich and Paris. The presidium has also increased the working time of some judges at the Court of Appeal. 

Unanswered questions

The press release does not reveal who will be the presiding judge of the second panel at Munich’s local division. According to JUVE Patent information, however, talks are already taking place regarding this matter.

Furthermore, the appointment of another legally qualified judge in Mannheim raises the question of whether the UPC plans to establish a second panel there as well. The statement by the UPC does not mention Mannheim in its further plans for expansion.

The UPC has yet to announce when the new judges will take up office. (Co-author: Mathieu Klos)