Ortovox Sportartikel v Mammut Sports Group (CFI, ORD_7946/2025, 22 April 2025)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By an order of 22 April 2025 (UPC_CFI_16/2024), the judge-rapporteur of the Düsseldorf Local Division classified as confidential the information on the work billed by Ortovox Sportartikel’s lawyers (invoice numbers, hourly rates, hours) in the applications for the determination of costs it filed on 14 February 2025. The Mammut defendants, their representatives and their teams must keep it secret, on pain of penalty payments. The order accepts that Rule 262A also protects fee arrangements between a party and its counsel.

Question

Can lawyers’ billing information filed in support of an application for the determination of costs be protected under Rule 262A, when that rule is said to cover only a party’s own information?

Decision

Yes. On the basis of Art. 9(1) and (2)(a) of Directive 2016/943, Art. 58 UPCA and Rule 262A, the judge weighed the applicant’s interest in protection against the opponent’s right to full access (paragraph 3). The defendants did not dispute the lawyers’ interest in keeping their fees confidential, and nothing showed that the information was known (paragraph 5). Their objection that the rule protects only parties failed: the claimant itself has an interest in keeping its fee agreement secret, and Art. 58, to which Rule 262A.2 refers, allows a third party’s secrets to be protected (paragraphs 6 to 8). The request did not limit who may access the material but only its disclosure to third parties, so the right to be heard was unaffected, and the defendants showed no interest in passing it on (paragraphs 10 and 11).

Key points for practice

• A party substantiating its costs may file detailed invoices under a Rule 262A regime, while the opponent keeps access to challenge them.

Provisions applied

Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

Art. 58

Rules of Procedure

Rules 150 et seq. and 262A

Other provisions

Directive (EU) 2016/943, Art. 9(1) and (2)(a)

Case law cited

Düsseldorf Local Division, 23 December 2024 (UPC_CFI_336/2024), Hamburg Local Division, 19 November 2024 (UPC_CFI_169/2024)

Related decisions

• Ortovox Sportartikel v Mammut Sports Group, Düsseldorf Local Division, 14 January 2025, merits decision

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.