UPC Court of Appeal: Representation

Before the UPC, neither a legal representative of a legal entity nor any other natural person who has extensive administrative and financial powers within that legal entity - whether as a result of holding a senior management or administrative position or of owning a significant share in the legal entity - may act as a litigation representative. This applies regardless of whether this legal representative of the legal entity or the natural person is authorised to represent before the court in accordance with Article 48(1) or (2) UPCA. One of the goals of representing parties through a lawyer is, among other things, to ensure that legal entities are represented by a person who is reasonably independent of the legal entity being represented. The independent exercise of a representative's duties is not called into question solely by the fact that the lawyer or patent attorney is employed by the party they represent. A representative employed by a party must act as an independent legal counsel before the court. They must represent their client's interests impartially and not allow personal feelings or their own interests to influence their decision-making, in accordance with the Code of Conduct for representatives before the court pursuant to R 290(2) RoP (UPC 11. 2. 2025, CoA 563/2024).