UPC Central Division: Procedural Decision: Claim Amendments in a Counterclaim

The defendant in a counterclaim for revocation of a patent is entitled to amend the patent, provided that the corresponding request is contained in the statement of defence (or at least filed in due time) and contains the information required by R 30 RoP. The requirements for a request to amend the patent – in particular with regard to the time limit for filing, the existence of at least one amendment and the use of the language of proceedings of the patent – are of an objective nature; a violation thereof leads to the inadmissibility of the request. In contrast, the assessment of the clarity, the sufficient reasoning on validity and infringement and the appropriateness of the number of amendments is at the discretion of the Court. In general, the mere deletion of claims does not necessarily require a complete set of amended claims; however, any substantive amendment requires the filing of a complete, revised set of claims. The proposed amendments must be immediately comprehensible to the Court and the opposing party without requiring subjective interpretations of the applicant's intentions – this also with a view to correct entry in the official patent registers (CD Paris 7.1.2026,CFI 433/2024).