Anker Innovations Deutschland v Koninklijke Philips (CoA, 27 May 2026)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By order of 27 May 2026 (UPC_CoA_39/2026), given in German by the judge-rapporteur, the Court of Appeal grants the request of Anker Innovations Deutschland, sued by Philips in parallel proceedings on EP 2 867 997, for access to the pleadings and exhibits exchanged in the Belkin v Philips appeals. The order explains how a request under Rule 262.1(b) RoP should be framed: it is the wording of the request, not a restriction stated in its reasoning, that sets the scope of access.

Question

Can a third party obtain access to the pleadings of closed appeal proceedings, and is a request confined to « technical arguments » sufficiently specific?

Decision

The Court of Appeal has jurisdiction over pleadings filed before it (paragraph 15). A request for the pleadings and exhibits « not subject to confidentiality requests » is specific enough. By contrast, a restriction to technical arguments alone would leave the sorting of documents to the Court and would be too vague (paragraphs 16 to 19). As the proceedings are finally concluded and no request under Rule 262.2 RoP was made, the balance of interests favours access to all pleadings and exhibits, once personal data within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 have been redacted (paragraphs 21 and 22).

Key points for practice

• A party wishing to protect non-technical passages must redact them itself or apply under Rule 262.2 RoP, otherwise access is granted without restriction (paragraphs 20 and 22).
• Practical point: a defendant sued on the same patent can obtain the pleadings of closed proceedings between other parties to compare the arguments.

Provisions applied

Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

Arts 10(1) and 45

Rules of Procedure

Rules 262.1(b), 262.2, 262.3 and 262A

Other provisions

Regulation (EU) 2016/679

Case law cited

Ocado v Autostore, Court of Appeal, 10 April 2024, Huawei v TP-Link, Court of Appeal, 17 February 2026, Gowling WLG (Boehringer Ingelheim v Zentiva), Court of Appeal, 24 February 2026

Related decisions

• Belkin v Koninklijke Philips, 3 October 2025, appeal decision whose pleadings are disclosed.

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.