UPC rejects NVIDIA’s request to change language of proceedings, citing fair access to justice for SMEs

In an Order dated 16 January 2025, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) rejected NVIDIA’s request to change the language of proceedings from German to English (the language in which the patent was granted) in an infringement case brought by two German entities against the US tech giant. The Munich Local Division ruled that allowing the language change would compromise fair access to justice for medium-sized enterprises.

California-based NVIDIA, citing the developing case law on requests under Rule 323 of the Rules of Procedure (such as 10x Genomics v Curio: UPC_CoA_101/2024), argued that the domicile of the defendant should be decisive when other factors are equal. For example, the company pointed out that English is the most widely used language in the industry, and that both claimants were proficient in English. However, the Court found that these points, whilst not disputed, did not sufficiently fulfil the “grounds of fairness” requirement of Article 49(5) of the UPC Agreement.

In opposing the request, the claimants in the main action – AI supercomputing company ParTec and licensing agent BF exaQC – noted that NVIDIA, with its significant presence in Germany, could reasonably expect to be sued there. They argued that granting the request would impose an undue burden on smaller entities, requiring them to translate submissions into English when facing a much larger, financially stronger opponent.

The ruling emphasises the UPC’s “important goal” of fair access to justice, and that language decisions will not simply default to English for matters of convenience, especially when they could act to heighten an already significant power imbalance between the two sides.