In a case before the Court of First Instance of the Unified Patent Court, Central Division (Munich Section), an order was issued concerning the transparency of legal proceedings.
The applicant requested access to all written pleadings and evidence from a combined revocation action and counterclaim for revocation. This was under Rule 262.1(b) of the Rules of Procedure of the Unified Patent Court, which stipulates that such documents can be made available if the request is properly reasoned and justified.
The court found the request admissible to the extent that it concerned actual written pleadings and evidence, emphasizing the public's right to understand the judicial process post-decision to foster trust in the legal system. However, it rejected the request for access to other documents that did not fall into the categories “pleadings” and “evidence”, like various administrative communications and procedural notifications.
Specifically, in the Court´s opinion, Rule 262.1(b) RoP does not provide a legal basis for making available documents that are not written pleadings or evidence. This follows from the clear wording of the rule and its systematic purpose, which is to grant access to pleadings that the parties lodged at the Court and documents that are intended to serve as evidence, i.e. documents that relate to the substance of a party´s case.
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