The Hague in the Netherlands, where one local division of the UPC sits. Pierre Crom/Getty Images.
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is at the forefront of international patent litigation choices at the start of what we expect will be another year of meaningful developments in its case law for businesses across sectors.
Below, we examine some of the major developments in UPC case law in 2025 and examine how the position might evolve further in 2026, focusing on three main areas: the expansion of the geographic scope of the UPC’s ruling; the litigation of ‘standard essential’ technology patents; and how pharmaceutical companies may be increasingly encouraged to assert or defend patent claims before the UPC.
In January 2025, the Düsseldorf local division's (LD) decision in the case of Fujifilm v Kodak explored the scope for obtaining cross-border relief against infringement of patents in force in countries that do not participate in the UPC system. The court determined that the UPC’s ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ enabled it to rule on infringement of a UK designation of a European patent.
The ability of EU member state courts, of which the UPC is equivalent, to hear infringement cases against defendants domiciled in their country, even if validity is disputed, was confirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU’s) ground-breaking decision in the case of BSH Hausgeräte v Electrolux. The CJEU went further, determining that EU courts can rule on the validity of non-EU patents – albeit only on an inter partes basis, in other words in the context of the specific dispute between the parties involved and not to the extent of being binding on foreign courts – to determine infringement.
These rulings led to various divisions of the UPC adjudicating on rights beyond UPC territories throughout 2025, including the Mannheim LD awarding relief, including damages and a permanent injunction, over the UK in the landmark Fujifilm v Kodak decision.