On 26 March, the Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court (UPC CoA) issued a cost order in a revocation case. The UPC CoA upheld the first-instance decision to award costs to the co-owner patentees, who were represented by RGTH Patentanwälte PartGmbB's Thomas Schart and Dr. Christoph Bartels, as well as our partner Daniel Hoppe.
 
Stäubli had filed a revocation action against our clients with the Paris Central Division (CD) on 18 October 2023. The defendants acknowledged the claim and declared their renunciation of the disputed patent. The CD ordered Stäubli to bear the costs of the proceedings. Stäubli appealed the decision. The UPC CoA confirmed the CD decision. According to the court, Stäubli had caused a waste of resources by filing a premature revocation action. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed and Stäubli was ordered to pay the costs of the appeal proceedings.
 
The decision increases the attractiveness of the unitary patent, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. At the beginning of 2023, many patent proprietors decided to declare the opt-out for their European patents as they feared nullity proceedings before the UPC with high cost risks. The UPC CoA has now made clear that there is no need to be afraid of the costs of surprise revocation claims. We are pleased that we were able to contribute to this.
 
Read the full decision