UPC Local Division: Change in Claim

Initially, the claimant filed auxiliary requests for a limited defense of the patent in suit, which were restricted to the German part of the European patent. Subsequently, the claimant submitted an amendment request under Rule 263 of the Rules of Procedure, specifying that these auxiliary requests should apply to all Contracting Member States of the UPCA. If auxiliary requests in connection with a motion to amend the patent are later amended, Rule 263 of the Rules of Procedure does not apply from the outset. The conditions for permissible requests to amend a patent are set out in Rule 30 of the Rules of Procedure. If a request to amend a patent is further amended, such a request is considered another amendment request under Rule 30.2 of the Rules of Procedure and is permitted only with leave of the Court. In light of Article 34 of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court and the requirement for generally uniform decisions, territorial limitations of a patent amendment request should only be considered if objective reasons for such a limitation exist. The claimant did not present any such reasons, rendering the territorial limitation in this case inadmissible and therefore invalid. Consequently, the new requests merely clarify the prior legal status and thus constitute an admissible request under Rule 30.2 of the Rules of Procedure (Local Division Düsseldorf, 2 August 2024, Court of First Instance 355/2023).