Apple Retail Germany v Ona Patents (CoA, 18 September 2024)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

In an order of 18 September 2024 (UPC_CoA_354/2024), the Court of Appeal set aside the order of the President of the Court of First Instance of 18 June 2024 and ruled that the infringement action brought in German by Ona Patents before the Düsseldorf Local Division against five Apple companies (EP 2 263 098) is to proceed in English, the language of the patent. The Court held that the defendant’s internal working language and the organisation of its defence are relevant, and that parallel national proceedings carry little weight.

Question

Does fairness under Article 49(5) UPCA require a change from German to English, the language of the patent and the defendant’s working language?

Decision

The President’s order rested on an incorrect interpretation of fairness (paragraph 19). English is the language of the patent and of the technology. Apple’s working language is English, with experts and coordination in the United States, so German puts it at a clear disadvantage, whereas Ona would need no translations (paragraphs 23 to 29). The parallel proceedings before the Munich Regional Court concern neither this dispute nor these parties (paragraph 30), and a change at the statement of defence stage is not unreasonable (paragraph 32). A patentee should expect to litigate in the language of grant, including where a special purpose company set up by external funders acquired the patent for global enforcement (paragraph 36).

Key points for practice

• The defendant’s internal working language and the location of its technical teams weigh in the fairness assessment (paragraphs 23 to 28).
• A patent assertion entity that chooses a language other than that of the patent is exposed to a change of language (paragraph 36).

Provisions applied

Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

Art. 49(4) and (5)

Rules of Procedure

Rule 323

Case law cited

Curio Bioscience v 10x Genomics, Court of Appeal, 17 April 2024, Court of Appeal, 5 September 2024, UPC_CoA_207/2024, Court of First Instance, 30 May 2024, UPC_CFI_26/2024

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.