15 April 2024: The UPC Court of Appeal provides guidance of when a non-party to proceedings may obtain pleadings and evidence from the Registry

Summary

Last week the UPC Court of Appeal provided some much needed guidance on the ability of the public to gain access to pleadings and evidence held at the Registry in circumstances where the applicant is not a party to the proceedings. The upshot is that if an applicant applies for access to such materials from a general interest perspective, it is unlikely that access will be granted whilst the relevant proceedings are on-going. On the other hand, access is much more likely to be granted at the end of the proceedings – if a judgment has been handed down or settlement reached.

This is a disappointing decision as it seriously restricts the ability to access key materials in UPC cases in a timely manner.

Context

Since the start of the UPC in June 2023, there has been considerable debate concerning the difficulty and uncertainty for a non-party applicant to obtain key documents, such as pleadings and evidence, in UPC proceedings. The procedure for doing so is set out in Rule 262.1(b) of the UPC's Rules of Procedure. It states that evidence and pleadings will be available to non-parties upon a "reasoned request" to the UPC Registry. A Judge-Rapporteur will make a decision after consulting the parties.

Key points of the decision

This decision concerns the interpretation of Rule 262.1(b) resulting from a request from a non-party in the Ocado v Autostore case which, by the time of the request, had been settled.

At first instance, the Court allowed disclosure of the requested pleadings and evidence. Ocado appealed the decision. The Court of Appeal made the following findings:

  1. The general principle is that the UPC Register is public and UPC proceedings are open to the public.
  2. On a request from a non-party for evidence and pleadings, the UPC has to balance the rights of access to the public against the rights of the parties to the proceedings (pursuant to Article 45 of the UPC Agreement). The latter concerns issues of confidentiality, personal data and other general interests including the protection of the integrity of the proceedings, for example in circumstances where a request is abusive or security issues are at stake.
  3. It was agreed by both Ocado and the redacted applicant that a member of the public generally has an interest that written pleadings and evidence are made available. This is because it allows better understanding of decisions made and allows scrutiny of the Court. The UPC held that a non-party's general interest arises once a decision has been handed down or settled (as in this case) because it is only then that the decision needs to be understood and the positions of the Court scrutinised. Where there has been a settlement access to the court file may still give an insight in the handling of the dispute or provide scientific or educational interest.

By following this position, the Court of Appeal clarified that the parties can bring their claim in an impartial and independent manner without influence or interference from non-parties. The Court of Appeal clarified that the interest of the integrity of the proceedings usually only plays a role during the course of the proceedings  unless the non-party can show that they have a direct (rather than a general) interest in the case. For example, if a non-party has an interest in the validity of the patent in suit because they are also a licensee or competitor – this could give rise to a direct interest that weigh in favour of materials being obtained during the course of the proceedings.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.