UPC infringement actions average 13 months, 2025 annual report reveals

Context: The Unified Patent Court (UPC) first launched on June 1, 2023 and has already become a relatively popular enforcement venue for patentees across the world, especially those from North America, Europe, and Asia. Last year, the UPC had a particularly large year in terms of shaping its case law, with many of the cases filed in its first year of operation coming to a close. Examples include the UPC’s Mannheim Local Division (LD) entering the Court’s first-ever injunction relating to the UK (applying long-arm jurisdiction in Fujifilm v. Kodak: July 18, 2025 ip fray article) and (in Sanofi v. Amgen: May 13, 2025 ip fray article). Last week, ip fray reported on the UPC’s monthly case statistics, which revealed a rebound in activity, with 22 new infringement actions and three new applications for provisional measures filed (item 11.4 of the April 20, 2026 ip fray UPC roundup).

What’s new: The UPC has today published its 2025 annual report (April 30, 2026 UPC annual report 2025 PDF). It reveals, among other things, that of the actions pending on December 31, 2025 (which increased significantly from 2024), over 60 involve one or more standard-essential patents (SEPs). Notably, it also issued statistics on the number of days it takes to close cases per case type, with infringement actions taking the longest, averaging at 398 days from start to finish (13 months). The report also highlights some of the landmark decisions it handed down in 2025, which are helping to shape the Court, as it ends its third year of operation.

Direct impact and wider ramifications:

• The UPC’s Budget Committee chairman, Bruno Leboullenger, also noted in the report that the balance between necessary contributions from Contracting Member States during the transition period and the Court fees has reached a “very encouraging balance”. However, when it comes to other aspects regarding contributions from different Member States, such as the UPC’s actual docket distribution, a lot of contention remains. While generally the system’s caseload continues to increase, indicating popularity, the majority of those cases are being filed in Germany-based LDs – and non-German practitioners believe this undermines the UPC (April 13, 2026 ip fray article). It will be interesting to see whether this issue is resolved by the time the next report is issued.
• In one of the forewords, written by the Court of Appeal’s (CoA’s) President, Klaus Grabinski, noted that new advances such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology have the potential to raise new legal questions in the field of patent law. This could significantly shape the caseload currently pending in the UPC this year, and may lead to an interesting report next year, too.