The Unified Patent Court (UPC) recently published its 2025 Annual Report. The report reveals that, less than three years after its establishment, the UPC has rapidly grown into one of the world’s most active platforms for patent litigation, with Chinese and US companies emerging as the system’s primary non-European participants.

As of 31 December 2025, the UPC’s Court of First Instance had received a total of 494 patent infringement actions, 415 counterclaims for invalidity, 88 standalone invalidity actions, and 91 applications for interim measures, alongside 43 applications for the preservation of evidence, inspection and asset freezing. Klas Grabinski, President of the UPC Court of Appeal, stated in the report that the increase in case numbers reflects the market’s growing confidence in the UPC, and that a uniform and predictable case law system will form an important foundation for innovation and patent enforcement in Europe.

Meanwhile, Florence Butin, President of the UPC Court of First Instance, stated that the UPC is continuing to expand its judiciary to meet the growing demand for case handling. The report indicates that the number of technically qualified judges has risen from 50 in 2023 to 80 by the end of 2025, with plans for further expansion in 2026.

In terms of the countries of origin of the cases, the top three plaintiffs were Germany (54 cases), the United States (52 cases) and China (20 cases). This indicates that Chinese enterprises are becoming increasingly active in the European market; they are no longer merely passive defendants in European patent litigation, but are increasingly taking the initiative to enforce their patent rights across borders through the UPC.

In addition to the growth in caseload, another significant development for the UPC in 2025 was the complete replacement of its existing Case Management System (CMS). Previously, the old CMS had long been criticised by the legal profession for being cumbersome to operate and lacking stability. The UPC ultimately decided to collaborate with the European Patent Office (EPO) to rebuild the system, with the full rollout completed in September 2025. The new CMS supports more flexible electronic case filing, online procedure management and cross-border case coordination.

As more and more Chinese technology firms, telecommunications companies and holders of standard-essential patents enter the UPC system, the Unified Patent Court is gradually transforming from an internal European court into a new central battleground for global patent litigation.

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