The Unified Patent Court (UPC) announces setting up of a third panel of the Court of Appeal

The UPC announces the setting up of a third panel of the UPC’s Court of Appeal (CoA) as of January 2026

Following a steady rise of the UPC’s caseload and a proportional rise of cases at the CoA, a third panel of the CoA will be set up as of January 2026. 

The CoA’s third panel will be composed of Ms Ulrike Voß (presiding judge at the UPC’s Court of First Instance), Mr Bart van den Broek (Dutch IP litigator specialized in national and international patent cases), Ms Nathalie Sabotier (magistrate at the French Cour de Cassation).

The appointments of the judges were decided by the UPC’s Administrative Committee on 2 July 2025, based on an opinion of the UPC’s Advisory Committee.

The President of the Court of Appeal, Mr Klaus Grabinski states: “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!”