Before a Local or Regional Division
Possible Languages
The default language of proceedings is (Article 49(1) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court) the official language (or languages) of the Member State in which the local division is located or one of the official languages (or several or all) of the Member States of that regional division.
One or more official languages of the EPO may be added (Article 49(2) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court).
It is possible to select only one or more official languages of the EPO (Article 49(2) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court).
Furthermore, it is possible to use the language of the grant proceedings if the parties agree (Article 49(4) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court).
Language Selected for Proceedings
For proceedings before this division, the parties may agree, with the judges’ consent, on the language to be used from among the possible languages before this division (Article 49(3) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court). In case of disagreement between the parties and the division, it is possible to request that the case be referred to the central division.
If the parties cannot reach an agreement, the president of the division may decide to use the language of the grant proceedings, providing, if necessary, arrangements for translation (Article 49(5) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court).
Before the Central Division
The language before the central division is the language of the grant proceedings (Article 49(6) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court).
Before the Court of Appeal
The language is then the language of the proceedings at first instance (Article 50(1) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court), except:
- if the parties decide to use the language of grant of the patent (Article 50(2) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court);
- if, with the parties’ agreement, the Court of Appeal considers that the use of another official language of one of the Member States is more appropriate (Article 50(3) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court).