UPC Local Division: Simultaneous Interpretation

Pursuant to Art 51(2) UPCA, any division of the Court of First Instance shall, if a party so requests, provide interpretation, to the extent appropriate, to assist that party during oral proceedings. The aim of simultaneous interpretation is to enable parties who do not have sufficient command of the procedural language, or no command at all, to actively participate in the oral proceedings. The interpretation can be provided both into and from the procedural language (see R 109.1 RoP). However, according to Art 51(2) UPCA, interpretation is only provided to an extent appropriate to assist a party in the oral proceedings. All other parts of the proceedings must be conducted in the procedural language. If individual party representatives are proficient in the procedural language, there is no reason to allow them to conduct the proceedings in a language other than the procedural language or use of simultaneous interpretation. Therefore, the defendant's patent attorney is the only one who may be allowed to conduct the proceedings in English with the use of simultaneous interpretation; the defendant must provide the necessary simultaneous interpreter at his own expense (Düsseldorf Local Division, UPC March 22, 2024 CFI 463/2023).