Germany: Court Procedure

This case examines the liability of an EU Authorized Representative under the Medical Device Regulation as an intermediary in patent infringement proceedings, even when they are not direct infringers. The court addresses critical procedural questions including deemed acceptance of jurisdiction, the consequences of non-attendance at oral hearings, and the discretion to refuse stays despite pending CJEU referrals.

The Mannheim Local Division of the Unified Patent Court addressed a procedural application by Google LLC and Google Germany GmbH seeking to change the language of infringement proceedings from German to English under Rule 323 of the Rules of Procedure. The decision examines how a claimant's demonstrated capacity to litigate in English in comparable proceedings may outweigh traditional factors such as party size and domicile when determining language-of-proceedings applications under Article 49(5) UPCA.

The Court of Appeal addresses three consolidated appeals concerning withdrawal procedures and fee reimbursement requests in patent infringement proceedings. TIRU's appeals against VEOLIA PROPRETE, MAGUIN SAS, and VALINEA ENERGIE involve procedural matters related to European Patent EP 3 178 578, raising questions about the application of Rules of Procedure governing appeal withdrawals and cost recovery.