Hand Held Products v Scandit (CoA, 11 December 2024)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By an order of 11 December 2024 (UPC_CoA_520/2024, APL_51079/2024), the judge-rapporteur of the Court of Appeal rejected the application by Hand Held Products, Inc., respondent in Scandit AG’s appeal against the Munich Local Division’s provisional measures order of 27 August 2024 (EP 3 866 051), for simultaneous interpretation of the hearing from German into English. A party that chose German cannot obtain interpretation at the Court’s expense for its non-German-speaking staff.

Question

Can a party that itself brought the proceedings in German obtain simultaneous interpretation of the appeal hearing into English under Rule 109?

Decision

The application, filed in time and in the form required by Rule 109.1 for the hearing of 9 January 2025, was admissible (paragraphs 4 and 7). The judge-rapporteur decides whether interpretation is appropriate (Rule 109.2) (paragraph 5). Hand Held Products had, however, filed its application for provisional measures and its infringement action in German although English was available as the language of proceedings. The attendance of in-house staff who do not speak German did not justify interpretation (paragraphs 8 and 9). The auxiliary request fell under the second sentence of Rule 109.2, not Rule 109.4, and was not granted either (paragraphs 10 and 11). Hand Held Products may use its own interpreter at its own cost, notifying the Registry at the latest two weeks before the hearing (paragraph 12).

Key points for practice

• The initial choice of the language of proceedings weighs against a later request for interpretation by the same party.
• Practical point: a party wishing its teams to follow the hearing in another language should arrange its own interpreter and notify the Registry two weeks in advance.

Provisions applied

Rules of Procedure

Rules 109.1, 109.2 and 109.4

Related decisions

• Scandit v Hand Held Products, 27 August 2024, provisional measures order under appeal.

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.