JingAo Solar v Chint New Energy Technology (CFI, 2 April 2025)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By order of 2 April 2025 (UPC_CFI_429/2024, ORD_55997/2024), Judge Sabine Klepsch, presiding judge and judge-rapporteur at the Hamburg Local Division, dismissed the application for security for costs filed on 7 October 2024 by Chint New Energy Technology and five companies of the Chint and Astronergy groups against JingAo Solar, a Chinese company and claimant in the infringement action on EP 4 092 759. The defendants argued that a costs decision could hardly be enforced in China. The order refuses to treat a seat outside the EU as sufficient ground for security.

Question

Is the claimant’s seat in China enough to justify security for costs under Article 69(4) UPCA and Rule 158.1 RoP?

Decision

In line with Court of Appeal case law, the burden of substantiation lies first on the party seeking security. Only once credible reasons are put forward must the claimant rebut them. The defendants produced no concrete evidence of any particular difficulty of enforcement. Article 69(4) UPCA and Rule 158.1 RoP draw no distinction between parties domiciled inside and outside the EU, so a party’s seat cannot on its own justify security. The judge expressly departed from the Vienna Local Division and from the Munich reading of the Hague Service Convention. Past difficulties of service in China are not enough, since a simplified procedure for electronic service has now been introduced there, and the fact that the first defendant is itself Chinese may even make enforcement easier.

Key points for practice

• Practical point: a party seeking security against a claimant established outside the EU must show concrete enforcement difficulties, the claimant’s seat alone will not do.

Provisions applied

Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

Art. 69(4)

Rules of Procedure

Rule 158.1

Other provisions

Hague Service Convention

Case law cited

Audi v NST, Court of Appeal, 17 September 2024, Aarke v SodaStream, Court of Appeal, 29 November 2024, Vienna Local Division, UPC_CFI_33/2024, Munich Local Division, UPC_CFI_514/2023 and UPC_CFI_425/2024

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.