Context: The Unified Patent Court’s (UPC’s) caseload has seen a steady rise since it was first launched in June 2023 (item 10.2 of ip fray‘s July 19, 2025 UPC Roundup). To meet demands, the UPC announced in July that it would be creating a new panel for the Court of Appeal (CoA).
What’s new: The UPC announced today that it has appointed Dr. Georg Werner (a judge at the Munich I Regional Court) as a legally qualified judge at the Munich Local Division (LD) and Mr. Daniel Severinsson (currently judge at the Patent and Market Court/Stockholm City Court) as a legally qualified judge at the Munich seat of the Central Division (CD), effective January 1, 2026 (October 10, 2025 UPC press release). In a parallel announcement, it confirmed that the third panel of the CoA will be operational as of January 1, 2026 and will be composed of Ms. Ulrike Voss (“Voß” in German: presiding judge at the UPC’s Court of First Instance), Mr. Bart van den Broek (a Dutch IP litigator at Hoyng Rokh Monegier), and Ms. Nathalie Sabotier (a magistrate at the French Cour de Cassation) (October 10, 2025 UPC press release).
Direct impact: While the creation of the new panel was not news per se (the first panel was renamed to “panel 1a” a few months ago), the judges who have been appointed are all very well-known in the European patent litigation ecosystem, making it a significant development. Ms. Voss is a very well-known European patent judge who has already been working for the UPC for some time, while Ms. Sabotier has spoken at various conferences in this space, including on standard-essential patents (SEPs) (including one today: Centre for a Digital Society SEP event). Meanwhile, Dr. Werner currently presides over the Munich I Regional Court’s 21st Civil Chamber and has decided several landmark cases, including the recent anti-interim licence injunction granted in favor of InterDigital against Amazon (October 2, 2025 ip fray article).
Wider ramifications: Dr. Werner’s move from a German national court to the UPC falls in line with the “brain drain” of high-profile German patent judges mentioned during the 2nd Annual LF Dealmakers Europe in London earlier this year (June 25, 2025 ip fray article). The UPC has become the “default setting” for EU patent litigation, leaving national systems in a state of “shock”, one panellist said at the time. The Munich I Regional Court continues to be a highly important patent litigation venue, however (September 29, 2025 ip fray article), and has the potential to attract new judicial talent.
Mr. Klaus Grabinski, President of the UPC CoA, said today:
“Given the high workload at the Court of Appeal, I am happy to welcome a third panel. This will allow not only to deal with the increased caseload of the CoA but will also add more flexibility in the composition of the different panels and the allocation of cases. I look forward to the collaboration with our new judges, who all have extensive experience in the field of patent litigation!”
Meanwhile, Ms. Florence Butin, President of the Court of First Instance, stated:
“I am very happy to welcome Mr. Severinsson at the Central Division Munich and Mr Georg Werner at the Local Division Munich! Their expertise will further contribute to the Court of First Instance. I would like to congratulate and thank Ms Ulrike Voß for her commitment and leadership during the past years at the Central and local division Munich and wish her success in her new role at the Court of Appeal.”
Dr. Georg Werner
Dr. Werner is very well-known in the German patent community, and most recently has been presiding over the Munich I Regional Court’s 21st Civil Chamber. He was formerly a deputy presiding judge at the same court’s 7th Chamber and 44th Chamber. Some of the largest cases he has overseen include:
- Dolby v. Roku (August 29, 2025 ip fray article)
- Infineon Technologies v. Innoscience Suzhou Technology Holding Co., Ltd. (August 4, 2025 ip fray article)
- Datang v. Xiaomi (June 12, 2025 ip fray article)
- ASUS, Innovative Sonic v. OPPO (April 4, 2025 ip fray article)
- Panasonic v. OPPO (June 27, 2024 ip fray article)
Mr. Daniel Severinsson
Swedish national Mr. Daniel Severinsson trained in private practice (Baker McKenzie), before spending the rest of his career working for various national courts in Sweden. He was a law clerk at both the Stockholm City Court and the Svea Court of Appeal, as well as an assistant judge at the Stockholm City Court. Mr. Severinsson was also a legal counsel at the Swedish Competition Authority from 2011 to 2015, before moving to the Swedish Parliament’s Committee on Civil Affairs to become a Committee Secretary for a year, and finally serving as a judge at the Patent and Market Court of the Stockholm City Court since 2016.
Ms. Ulrike Voss
Ms. Voss was previously an appellate judge in Dusseldorf, before she became presiding judge of the UPC’s CD Munich. She has spent her time split between the CD and the second panel of the Munich LD (which was created due to high demand for the LD’s services). One of the most significant cases she worked on was Huawei v. ZTE, which she referred to the European Court of Justice in 2013.
Ms. Nathalie Sabotier
Ms. Sabotier currently sits on the French Cour de Cassation in Paris, where she has served as a patent judge in the chamber of commerce, finance, and economy for the past two years. She was previously a first vice president and presiding judge at the Tribunal Judiciare’s 3rd chamber in Paris between 2018 and 2023, where she oversaw several significant patent cases, including Nokia v. Oppo (January 24, 2024 ip fray article), Teva v. BMS, and Insulet v. Medtrum.
Mr. Bart van den Broek
Mr. Van den Broek is a very well-known patent litigator (a partner at Hoyng Rokh Monegier in Amsterdam). His appointment to the UPC means his career path draws parallels to that of Judge Emmanuel Gougé, who also went from private practice directly to panel 1a of the UPC’s CoA. Similarly, Judge András Kupecz, although not an appellate judge, also went from private practice to the UPC’s CD Munich (August 30, 2024 ip fray article).
German judiciary promotion: Dr. Hubertus Schacht
Separately, another key move in the European patent system to be noted is Dr. Hubertus Schacht’s recent promotion from the Munich I Regional Court’s 7th Civil Chamber to the Munich Higher Regional Court.