The Unified Patent Court announced the appointment of two new legally qualified judges as the number of filed cases climbs again, while the local division in Düsseldorf now reports a higher caseload than its counterpart in Munich for the first time.
New judges appointed
The Administrative Committee named French native Elise Mellier to the central division in Paris and German jurist Hans-Joachim Weitz to the local division in Mannheim. Both are appointed to the Court of First Instance.
Mellier previously served on the Judicial Court of Paris, sitting in the third chamber that handles intellectual-property matters. She took part in patent disputes such as the SEP proceedings between Philips and Xiaomi, left the bench in September 2022 and later joined the French competition authority.
Since July 2023 she has been head of the office of the President of the Court of First Instance, Florence Butin, overseeing administrative coordination for the newly created division.
Weitz began his appointment on 15 September.
Each new judge will devote 20% of their working time to judicial duties. In addition to their judicial functions, they will serve as Heads of the Offices of the President of the Court of First Instance and President of the Court of Appeal respectively.
Düsseldorf overtakes Munich
Statistics for 2026 show a marked shift in workload. Of the 353 new actions filed at the Courts of First Instance between 1 January and 31 August, 77 were lodged in Düsseldorf, surpassing Munich’s 71 filings. Mannheim recorded 55 cases in the same period.
The Hague also experienced growth, handling 41 proceedings since the start of the year, overtaking Hamburg’s 29 cases. Milan attracted 23 claims during the first eight months.
Appeals Activity and Language Use at the Luxembourg Court of Appeal
During the same reporting period, the Court of Appeal in Luxembourg received 147 appeals overall. Of those, 76 involved infringement or revocation matters.
English is used in nearly 62% of first-instance proceedings, while over 67% of cases at the Court of Appeal are conducted in English generally. Infringement actions and counterclaims for revocation concerning electricity-related technology still continue to dominate the docket particularly.
