UPC_CoA_903/2025 – UERAN v Xiaomi
- Court
- Court of Appeal
- Date
- Outcome
- Denied
- Sector
- Electronics/SEP
- Decision Type
- PROCEDURAL
Expert Commentary
Change of language of proceedings Facts 1. The President of the Court of First instance had ordered the change of language from German to English at the request of the defendants. 2. The claimant is a US company. The defendants are Chinese companies and different European subsidiaries. 3. The claimant appealed and argued that a. the defendant is an international company used to litigation in foreign languages; b. the pleadings are more important than internal communication which can easily be done by machine translations; c. pleadings are to be read by German-speaking judges. The Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal rejected the request in 15 considerations. Comment 1. The Court of Appeal consisting of non-German judges (of whom at least two speak German!) has been very considerate and thorough in rejecting this appeal. 2. I fully agree with the Court of Appeal rejecting this request, bearing in mind that the UPC is an international court, and that it would be unusual to litigate in German in that court about a patent granted in the English language with prior art that is almost entirely in English, between two parties that are not German. 3. The appeal referring to “German-speaking judges” is also not very polite to judges who, firstly, are not all German (half of them may not be) and, secondly, are appointed to the UPC because they master the English language. 4. The only true reason for appealing in this case is that the representative (of a US client!) does not master the English language sufficiently to draft precise and convincing pleadings. 5. Again a lesson for non-German litigants: appoint a representative who is fully fluent and comfortable in English.
Full Decision Text
Date: 2025.12.19 Rian Kalden 12:21:41 +01'00' Nathalie, Digitally signed by Nathalie, Jeanne, Jeanne, Danielle SABOTIER Danielle Date: 2025.12.19 SABOTIER 12:12:26 +01'00' Digitally signed by Åsa Ingeborg Simonsson Date: 2025.12.19 12:39:21 +01'00'
Key Holdings
- The Court of Appeal rejected an appeal against a decision to change the language of proceedings from German to English.
- The decision affirms the UPC's international character and the appropriateness of English for patents granted in English with English prior art, especially between non-German parties.
- Arguments regarding defendants being accustomed to foreign languages, the importance of pleadings over internal communication, and 'German-speaking judges' were dismissed.
- The comment suggests that the appeal was likely motivated by the representative's insufficient English language skills.
Tags
- Appeal
- Language of Proceedings
- Pleadings