Imbox v. Footbridge, UPC Court of First Instance, Nordic Baltic Regional Division, 17 February 2024, Case No. 527/2024
At the Unified Patent Court (UPC), the unsuccessful party typically bears the reasonable and proportionate legal costs and other expenses of the successful party, up to a ceiling set by the Administrative Committee (Article 69 UPCA and Rule 152.2 RoP).
Background
Imbox sought a court order to preserve evidence and inspect the defendants’ property regarding alleged patent infringement. Despite Imbox’s request for no hearing, the Court invited the Defendants to comment. The Defendants’ detailed response led Imbox to withdraw its application, concluding there was no infringement. The Defendants requested confidentiality for their disclosed information and recoverable costs, arguing against a joint cost ceiling for all defendants due to the increased costs incurred with multiple defendants.
Ceiling on Recoverable costs
The Court confirmed that the ceiling applies to representation costs (excluding other expenses) and is set in relation to the value of the entire proceeding, not per defendant. The ceiling is a joint limit for all defendants’ representation costs when an application against multiple defendants is dismissed. The parties agreed on a dispute value of EUR 250,000, for which the ceiling for recoverable representation costs is EUR 38,000.
Reimbursement of Costs
The Court granted confidentiality and found the Defendants’ costs of SEK 539,596 (approximately EUR 44,000), including SEK 42,896 (EUR 3,800) in consultant expenses, reasonable as they undertook significant work to defend themselves. However, the Court found no justification for exceeding the cap and awarded each Defendant SEK 225,000, including expenses not covered by the ceiling.
This case highlights the importance of understanding the ceilings on recoverable costs and how they apply jointly to all defendants in multi-party proceedings.
The order can be found here.
