UPC Court of Appeal: Procedural Decision: Decisions on Costs in Preliminary Injunction Proceedings

Following the dismissal of the application for a preliminary injunction, the Brussels Local Division ordered the plaintiff to pay EUR 112,000 to the defendant as reimbursement of costs. A provisional costs award can also be ordered in favor of the defendant in preliminary injunction proceedings. In preliminary injunction proceedings, there are often reasons to award provisional costs to the successful party. This allows it to provisionally recover at least part of the costs incurred from the losing party until the main proceedings and a final decision on costs are concluded. A provisional costs award up to the amount of the applicable cap for legal representation costs largely renders the detailed cost procedure under R 150 et seq. superfluous. The table of costs pursuant to R 152.2 only covers representation costs; other costs (court fees, costs of witnesses, expert fees, etc.) may be awarded in addition. Representation costs usually constitute the major part of the costs. The Court of Appeal therefore generally considers a provisional costs award of up to 50% of the cap to be appropriate. This may be different if the parties have submitted detailed cost statements in the proceedings or have agreed on the costs to be reimbursed (UPC 28.11.2025, CoA 317/2025, CoA 376/2025).