A guide to the UPC and the UP - Flipbook - Page 198
Language of Proceedings at the Court of Appeal
11-131 At the Court of Appeal, the language of proceedings will be the language of proceedings before
the Court of First Instance 227 or, if the parties so agree, the language of the patent. 228 Evidence
of the respondent’s agreement on using the language of the patent should be lodged by the
appellant together with the statement of appeal. 229 The panel cannot refuse to use the
language of the patent. In exceptional cases, it is possible for the Court of Appeal to decide
on another language of a Contracting Member State as the language of proceedings. This is,
however, subject to agreement by the parties. 230
11-132 Given the potential opportunities to select a language at first instance, on the face of it, there
would seem to be few occasions in practice where the language of the proceedings is likely to
change on appeal. One possible example may be where the parties wished to use the language
in which the patent was granted but the judicial panel of the local division of the Court of First
Instance in which the proceedings were first heard did not agree and the parties had not
requested that the proceedings be transferred to the central division. 231
Figure 11-4: Language of Proceedings at the Court of Appeal
Language of proceedings
before the Court of First
Instance (art.50(1) UPCA)
Language of the patent if the
parties so agree (art.50(2) UPCA)
In exceptional cases:
another official language subject
to agreement by the parties
(art.50(3) UPCA)
11-133 If the language of the proceedings before the Court of Appeal is other than the language of the
proceedings before the Court of First Instance, the judge-rapporteur may order the appellant to
lodge translations of documents into the language of the proceedings before the Court of
Appeal. These documents may include written pleadings and other documents, as specified by
the judge-rapporteur, and decisions or orders of the Court of First Instance. The appeal will be
rejected by the judge-rapporteur by a decision by default if the respondent fails to lodge said
translations within the time period specified. 232
Translations of Documents
11-134 In principle, all documents need to be translated into the language of proceedings. This follows
from r.7(1) RoP which states that written pleadings and other documents are to be lodged in
the language of the proceedings unless otherwise provided. The costs of translation are to be
borne by the party submitting the document. A formal certification by the translator as to the
accuracy of such translation is not necessary unless the accuracy is challenged by a party or
such certification is ordered by the Court or required by the RoP. 233 However, the UPCA
provides that any panel of the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal may, to the extent
deemed appropriate, dispense with translation requirements. 234 Exactly how much flexibility
will be granted by the Court is yet to be established.
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
art.50(1) UPCA and r.227(1)(a) RoP.
art.50(2) UPCA.
r.227(1)(b) RoP.
art.50(3) UPCA.
art.49(3) UPCA.
r.232 RoP.
r.7(2) RoP.
art.51(1) UPCA.
© Bird & Bird LLP | May 2023
A Guide to the UPC and the UP 188
