Amazon Europe Core v Nokia Technologies (CoA, 20 January 2025)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By order of 20 January 2025 (UPC_CoA_835/2024), the Court of Appeal ruled on the confidentiality application filed by Amazon Europe Core, Amazon EU and Amazon.com with their appeal against an order of the Munich Local Division of 16 December 2024, which had refused to order Nokia Technologies to produce unredacted versions of documents (EP 2 661 892). The order defines the circle of persons bound by confidentiality and who may be subject to a penalty payment.

Question

Which information in the statement of appeal may be protected under Art. 58 UPCA and Rule 262.2 RoP, and to whom do the confidentiality obligation and the penalty payment apply?

Decision

The designated information (licence negotiations, the defendant’s business model, the claimant’s licensees) is confidential and excluded from inspection of the file by third parties, Amazon having given concrete reasons (paragraph 5). The confidentiality obligation is imposed on the parties and their representatives, provisionally so that Nokia can comment in its response under Rule 225.1 RoP, and survives the proceedings (paragraphs 6 and 8). A penalty payment under Art. 82(4) UPCA may be imposed only on the parties, not on their representatives, although a party’s liability for its representatives’ breaches is not excluded. The Court of its own motion set a ceiling of EUR 250,000 per breach (paragraph 7). Extension to other persons was refused, court staff already being bound by confidentiality under their Staff Regulations (paragraph 9). The requests on excluding the public from the hearing and redacting the decision are reserved (paragraph 10).

Key points for practice

• On appeal, protection under Rule 262.2 RoP covers the parties and their representatives. Penalty payments reach only the parties, and any extension to other persons requires a specific interest to be shown.

Provisions applied

Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

Arts 58 and 82(4)

Rules of Procedure

Rules 220.1, 225.1, 262.2 and 262A

Other provisions

Staff Regulations of the Unified Patent Court, Art. 5.3

Prepared by Dhenne Avocats from the official decision, consulted on 10 October 2026. The database is updated every week, on Friday. Only the official text is authoritative.