UPC publishes templates for court decisions and orders along with "non-binding" guidance

In order to ensure a "unified, European and consistent appearance and content of orders and decisions of the UPC", a set of four templates (two for the Court of First Instance (CFI) and two for the Court of Appeal (CoA)) have been prepared and published by the UPC along with a series of non-binding "Guidances" aimed at facilitating the use of the templates by the judges of the UPC. Representatives of parties using making applications to the UPC are also suggested to follow the drafting guidance when making requests to the court, so these are in a format that corresponds to the possible format of the decision or order sought..

Templates and Guidance

The UPC has published templates for CFI and CA decisions and orders. These come with "Guidances"  for the use of these templates (although described as non-binding).

The UPC has announced that,

• in order to ensure a unified, European and consistent appearance and content of orders and decisions of the UPC, a set of four templates (two for the CFI and two for the CoA) have been prepared; and
• in addition, in order to facilitate the use of the templates by the judges of the UPC, a series of non-binding Guidances have been prepared.

The guidance includes:

• Non-binding Guidances for the use of the templates for decisions and orders of the UPC
• Guidance on the format in which the following should be set out:
  • Decision in an action for infringement with counterclaim for revocation
  • Decision in an action for a declaration of non-infringement
  • Decision allowing a Preliminary objection (R. 21.1 1st sentence RoP)
  • Order rejecting a Preliminary objection (R. 21.1, 2nd sentence RoP)
  • Order on Application of Article 33(3) UPCA
  • Order convening the interim conference
  • Summons of parties and party experts to the oral hearing
  • Summons of a court expert
  • Summons of witnesses to the oral hearing
  • Order for provisional measures
  • Order to inspect premises and to preserve evidence
  • Order to communicate information
  • Order to freeze assets

The Non-binding Guidances for the use of the templates for decisions and orders of the UPC (first listed above), says that

"The Guidances should be seen as a practical aide to using the templates when drafting particular orders and decisions without limiting the judges in their judicial independence. Text included in a Guidance may for example – as far as relevant – be “copied/pasted” into the template.

The Guidances have been drafted to serve as an informal check-list enabling judges to make sure that - parties’ right to be heard has been complied with throughout the proceedings, - all mandatory steps in the more complex proceedings have been correctly followed, and - all relevant aspects are taken into account and the various options available to the judges kept in mind.

The Guidances have also been drafted to enable party representatives to draft their requests in a format that corresponds to the possible format of the decision or order sought. [emphasis added]  Finally, standard text and formulations aim at enhancing consistency and efficiency and accelerating finalisation of orders and decisions."

For more on the UPC visit our UPC Hub and read our UPC blog post series.

Our fully integrated, market leading European patent litigation team is ready to advise on all aspects of the practical and strategic issues which you should be considering in preparation for the UPC – please contact us for further information.

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