Language matters: UPC orders Claimant to bear translation costs following switch in language of proceedings

In a procedural Order issued on 22 October 2024 concerning infringement proceedings brought at the Hamburg Local Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), the President of the Court of First Instance (CFI) accepted the defendants’ request that the language of the proceedings should change from German to English and that claimant shall translate pre-existing documents on its own expense.

Visibly, a company incorporated in the United States, brought an infringement action that was filed in German at the Hamburg Local Division against Easee BV, Yves Prevoo, and Easee Holdings BV (collectively Easee), domiciled in the Netherlands. Easee made an application to request the language of proceedings to be changed from German to English, English being the language in which the patent in suit was granted. They also requested that the Claimant provide English translations of the Statement of Claim and of four untranslated Exhibits. Whilst Visibly did agree to the change of language, they requested that the defendants' motion requesting English translations be dismissed.

Unsurprisingly, given Visibly’s agreement with the request, the Court ordered that the language of proceedings should be changed from German to English. This is unsurprising in light of the case law that has developed surrounding this question over the last year. Nevertheless, the President of the Court of First Instance has additionally decided that translation of the Statement of Claim and the four untranslated Exhibits are to be prepared and that Visibly should bear the costs for having these translations.

Looking forward, claimants should carefully consider the potential costs of language changes when choosing a division for UPC proceedings, especially when filing against defendants from different linguistic regions. Selecting the original language of the patent may mitigate translation expenses.