UPC Local Division: Separation of proceedings

The claimant has brought infringement actions against 10 defendants, with defendants 1, 2, 7 and 8 being based in China. Pursuant to R 275.2 RoP, the Court may order that proceedings involving several defendants be heard in separate proceedings. Such a separation is useful and necessary in this case. The representatives of defendants 3 to 6, 9 and 10 stated in their notice of objection that they are not mandated by defendants 1, 2, 7 and 8. Furthermore, contrary to the information provided by the claimant in the action, the defendants named have not authorized defendant 3 to accept service on their behalf. Service on defendant 3 in accordance with R 275.2 RoP was refused by the judge-rapporteur and the panel in accordance with the application under R 333 RoP. The appeal against this in one of the parallel proceedings has not yet been decided. Nevertheless, the claimant has requested that the action be served on defendants 1, 2, 7 and 8, who are domiciled in the PRC and Hong Kong, and has provided the necessary documents and translations. Since service abroad is to be effected in accordance with the Hague Service Convention, it is to be expected that reception will take a considerable amount of time. In order to continue the proceedings against the other defendants (who are already represented by lawyers) swiftly, it was therefore necessary to separate the proceedings (Mannheim Local Division, UPC May 6, 2024, CFI 218/2023).