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Language of Proceedings at the Court of Appeal

Regarding the Court of Appeal, the language of proceedings is in general the language that was used in proceedings before the Court of First Instance of that case.

Language of Proceedings at the Court of First Instance

The language of proceedings before any local or regional division of the Court of First Instance is an official European Union language which is the official language or one of the official languages of the state hosting the relevant division, or the official language(s) designated by the states sharing a regional division. States may designate one or more of the official languages of the European Patent Office (English, French or German) as the language of proceedings of their local or regional division. Before the central division or where the parties so agree before a local division, the language of proceedings may be the language in which the patent was granted (English, French or German).

 DivisionLanguage(s)
Local DivisionVienna (AT)German, English
Brussels (BE)Dutch, French, German, English *
Copenhagen (DK)Danish, English
Helsinki (FI)Finnish, Swedish, English
Paris (FR)French, English *
Düsseldorf (DE)German, English *
Hamburg (DE)German, English *
Mannheim (DE)German, English *
Munich (DE)German, English *
Milan (IT)Italian, English *
The Hague (NL)Dutch, English
Lisbon (PT)Portuguese, English
Ljubljana (SI)Slovenian, English
Regional DivisionNordic-Baltic (SE, EE, LT, LV)English

* See Rule 14.2(c) of the UPC Rules of Procedure (RoP) regarding the use of the official language(s) as set out in Rule 14.1(a) RoP and/or the delivery of any order or decision in the official language(s) pursuant to Rule 14.1(a) RoP. In relation to the Brussels (BE) Local Division**, see also Rule 14.2(b) RoP.

** Included below are links to the Declaration of the Kingdom of Belgium on the language of proceedings before the Local Division established in Brussels:

- Link for the NL and EN versions of the Declaration (Belgian gazette): 

http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/2014/05/27/2023042078/staatsblad

- Link for the FR and DE versions of the Declaration (Belgian gazette): 

http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/loi/2014/05/27/2023042078/moniteur