UPC CoA, 11 April 2025: Limited scope for review on appeal of amendment of case or addition of a party
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Limited scope for review on appeal of a change or amendments of case (R. 263 RoP) or addition of a party (R. 305 RoP).
R. 263 RoP requires that the application shall explain why a requested change or amendment of case was not included in the original pleading. This means that the reasoning must be included in the application. It does not prohibit that the precise wording of the requested amendment is set out in one or more annexes, such as amended Statements of claim with and without tracked changes.
Request to add a party (R. 305 RoP) is at the discretion of the court, weighing the evidence provided, the relevant circumstances, the interests of the parties and procedural efficiency. Among the circumstances that the Court may take into account are: whether the claimant was or should have been aware of the alleged infringing acts of such a person at an earlier stage, the involvement of the other parties with that person’s allegedly infringing acts, the effect on the other parties if the party is added as a party and the stage of the proceedings. The level of the duty of presentation and proof of such circumstances is lower when dealing with a request under R. 305 RoP than when dealing with the case on the merits.
Risk of irreconcilable decisions: The Local Division rightly took into account a potential risk of irreconcilable decisions if the request would be rejected, and AIM had to initiate separate proceedings against TGI UK.
