Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft v HMD Global (CFI, 8 September 2025)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By an order of 8 September 2025 (UPC_CFI_495/2025, App_34320/2025), the President of the Court of First Instance, after consulting the panel of the Hamburg Local Division, granted the application of HMD Global Oy, defendant to Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s infringement action on European patent EP 2 609 590, and changed the language of the proceedings from German to English, the language in which the patent was granted. The order follows the Court of Appeal’s approach: the defendant’s position carries particular weight, and a claimant used to working in English suffers no unfairness from proceedings in the language of the patent.

Question

Should the language of the proceedings be changed to English on grounds of fairness under Art. 49(5) UPCA, at the request of a Finnish defendant sued in German?

Decision

Yes. All relevant circumstances are weighed, with particular weight given to the defendant’s position. English is the language most commonly used in the technical field concerned (audio processing and decoding), which was not disputed. Even for a multinational company, the need to coordinate internally in its working language must be taken into account. Sued in German, the defendant would face significant time pressure and translation work. The claimant, a research institute active internationally, regularly communicates in English. The application, made before the statement of defence, would not delay the proceedings. No translation arrangements were required under Rule 324. The order may be appealed within 15 days.

Key points for practice

• Practical point: an application to change the language is best made early, before the statement of defence, and supported by evidence of the use of English in the technical field and of the defendant’s working language.

Provisions applied

Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

Art. 49(1) and (5) and Art. 73(2)(a)

Rules of Procedure

Rules 220.1(c), 323 and 324

Case law cited

Curio Bioscience v 10x Genomics, Court of Appeal, 17 April 2024, Court of Appeal, 18 September 2024, UPC_CoA_354/2024

Related decisions

• Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft v HMD Global Oy, 24 August 2026, later decision in the same infringement action.

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.