UPC Clarifies Law on its Jurisdiction Over Damages

On January 16, 2025, the Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) reviewed its mandate under the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) and the Brussels Regulation and issued a decision that the UPC has jurisdiction to determine damages to award a patentee based on a national court's earlier ruling on patent infringement.

In this case a patentee, FIVES, brought a successful action before the national courts of Germany, that found a defendant, the company REEL, liable for patent infringement.  

FIVES then sought to obtain damages from REEL, by bringing an action for damages before the UPC and not before the national courts of Germany.  It is worth noting that the national courts of Germany have a reputation for low damage awards and largely are limited to the damages arising from infringing activity in Germany.

The Local Division of the UPC, hearing this action for damages, found that the UPC lacked jurisdiction to go forth with the action for damages.  FIVES appealed.

The UPC Court of Appeal interpreted the UPCA to allow the UPC to take up standalone damages claims arising from earlier entered national patent court infringement rulings.

The Court dismissed concerns about forum shopping and jurisdictional inconsistency, noting that the UPCA provides uniform procedural and substantive rules for damages claims.  In fact, the Court’s tone indicated that the UPC can, with this understanding of its jurisdiction, provide clarity and uniformity more easily over actions for damages for infringement of European patents.