Court Judge name Legal/Technical - Select -Legally qualifiedTechnically qualified Court - Any -Court of AppealCourt of First Instance Division Luxembourg (LU) Division - Any -Seat of Paris (FR)Section of Munich (DE)Vienna (AT)Brussels (BE)Copenhagen (DK)Helsinki (FI)Paris (FR)Düsseldorf (DE)Hamburg (DE)Mannheim (DE)Munich (DE)Milan (IT)The Hague (NL)Lisbon (PT)Ljubljana (SI)Stockholm (SE) - SeatRiga (LV) - Place of hearingTallinn (EE) - Place of hearingVilnius (LT) - Place of hearing Technical field or technology - Any -BiotechnologyChemistry and PharmaceuticsElectricityMechanical EngineeringPhysics Judges Results Court of Appeal Klaus Grabinski President Legally qualified Klaus Grabinski studied law at the Universities of Trier, Geneva and Cologne. He passed the 1st and 2nd state examination in 1988 and 1992. Since November 2022, Klaus Grabinski serves as President of the Court of Appeal and chairperson of the Presidium of the Unified Patent Court. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Francoise Barutel Judge Legally qualified Francoise Barutel graduated from Sciences Po Paris with a master's degree in private law and a master's degree from ESSEC Business School. She joined the Judiciary in 1997 after ten years in marketing and sales' departments of private companies. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Peter Blok Judge Legally qualified Peter Blok is a professor in the Center for Intellectual Property Law of Utrecht University. He holds the Patent law chair. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Emanuela Germano Judge Legally qualified Emanuela Germano has graduated in 1979 from the Law Faculty of the University of Turin with a mark of 110/110, cum laude and honourable mention, with a dissertation on criminal law. Immediately after graduating, she trained as a solicitor, obtaining the title of lawyer, and working for a number of years as a lecturer in criminal law at the University of Turin. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Rian Kalden Judge Legally qualified Rian Kalden graduated at Leiden University and finished a Master (including Intellectual and Industrial Property law at LSE) at Londen University. She started her career joining the Amsterdam Bar with the law firm Stibbe, where she practised for almost 11 years. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Patricia Rombach Judge Legally qualified Patricia Rombach received her Doctor Juris at Freiburg Law School in 2000 with the Doctoral thesis: “Die anfängliche und nachträgliche Übersicherung bei revolvierenden Globalsicherheiten“. Between 2018 and 2019, Patricia was the Presiding Judge of the Competition Law Chamber at the Mannheim Regional Court. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Ingeborg Simonsson Judge Legally qualified Ingeborg Simonsson graduated from Stockholm University in 1993, specializing in intellectual property law. She holds an LLM degree in European business law from the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She has been a full time judge in Swedish courts since 2008, addressing all types of patent cases on a regular basis, as well as intellectual property law cases and civil litigation cases. Before becoming a judge, she did full time research and teaching at Stockholm University, where since 2009 she holds a degree of doctor of European law and associate professor (docent). Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Court of First Instance Florence Butin President Legally qualified Florence Butin graduated in civil law and has been serving in the French judiciary system for 25 years, successively as a public prosecutor and in the French ministry of justice where she was notably in charge of ethical issues, conduct, disciplinary proceedings and human resources. She joined the Paris court of first instance in 2012, and from this time onwards her functions were definitively oriented towards civil and economic litigation, first at the social chamber - in charge of collective labor disputes and consumer law - and later at the intellectual property chamber. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Mélanie Bessaud Judge Legally qualified Appointed as a French judge in 2005, Mélanie Bessaud has been a civil judge in intellectual and industrial property matter, dealing with patents, trademarks, industrial design, models, and unfair competition in the first instance Court of Paris for five years. Germany Munich (DE) Central Division - Section Edger Brinkman Judge Legally qualified Edger Brinkman finished his chemistry degree in 1993, specializing in biochemistry, and a law degree in 1995 at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. After joining the bar that same year as a solicitor/barrister in Amsterdam focusing on patents and regulatory affairs, he was appointed judge at the Court of The Hague, IP department in 2002. He became a senior judge in 2007. He has been involved in many patent and other IP cases and speaks regularly on international conferences. He is co-editor of a leading Dutch IP magazine (BIE). Netherlands The Hague (NL) Local Division Paolo Catallozzi Judge Legally qualified Hon. Paolo Catallozzi is currently a judge at the Supreme Court of Italy, assigned to the first civil chamber, and ordinarily deals with cases in the field of intellectual property and competition law, as well as banking, corporate and bankruptcy law. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Carine Gillet Judge Legally qualified Graduated from Strasbourg Law University and from French National Judiciary School, Carine Gillet has always been appointed as a judge in civil matters, since 1993. She dealt with IP cases in Tribunal de Grande Instance de Bobigny before 2009 and spent seven years at the First Instance Paris Court, specialized in IP matters, from 2014 to 2021. France Paris (FR) Local Division Samuel Granata Judge Legally qualified Judge Samuel Granata sits on the Court of Appeal of Antwerp (Belgium)(IP Chamber) and at the Benelux Court of Justice (Luxembourg)(Second Chamber – Appeals against decision of the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property). Further, he is the President of the Disciplinary Board of the Institute of Belgian Patent Agents. Belgium Brussels (BE) Local Division Maximilian Haedicke Judge Legally qualified Professor Dr. Maximilian Haedicke, LL.M. (Georgetown) is the Chair for Intellectual Property and Competition Law at Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, where he has been tenured since 2005. He was previously an assistant professor at Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Copyright, Patent and Competition Law in Munich. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Kai Härmand Judge Legally qualified Kai Härmand is a judge at the Harju County Court (First Instant) since 2020. She has worked as Deputy Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Justice from to 2012 to 2020. Sweden Stockholm (SE) - Seat of the Regional Division Stefan Johansson Judge Legally qualified Stefan Johansson is a Senior Judge at Stockholm District Court, where he currently works as Head of Division 3. He has been a judge at Stockholm District Court since 2013. Sweden Stockholm (SE) - Seat of the Regional Division Holger Kircher Judge Legally qualified Holger Kircher has obtained his Doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 1996 and has been the Presiding judge at the Regional Court in Mannheim (chamber for patent matters) since 2006. Germany Mannheim (DE) Local Division Sabine Klepsch Judge Legally qualified After studying chemistry in Ulm and Freiburg and law in Bonn, Sabine Klepsch began working as a judge at the Regional Court in Düsseldorf in 2001. She has been working in patent law since 2002 and in 2013 took over as presiding judge of the 4c. Civil Chamber, which was newly established at that time Germany Hamburg (DE) Local Division Margot Kokke Judge Legally qualified Margot Kokke holds an LLM as well as BSc (Chemistry) and MSc (biochemistry) degrees, all from Leiden University. Since 2014 she is a (patent) judge at the District Court The Hague. Netherlands The Hague (NL) Local Division Camille Lignieres Judge Legally qualified Camille Lignieres joined the Judiciary in 1994 after having graduated in Political Science and Private Law. In 2013, she joined the Paris Court of First Instance, in the Chamber specialising in Intellectual Property law, where she chaired as Presiding judge of a 3 judge-panel. France Paris (FR) Local Division Rute Lopes Judge Legally qualified Rute Lopes obtained her law degree in 1994. She has been working as a judge since 1997. Most recently she has been serving as judge at the Appeal Court, in Lisbon - Intellectual Property and Competition division. Portugal Lisbon (PT) Local Division Mojca Mlakar Judge Legally qualified Mojca Mlakar is a Higher Court Judge at Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia. She is sitting at the Department of Property Relations, Environment and Spatial Planning, Second Tribunal; as such she is specialized in the field of Intellectual Property and Competition Law. Slovenia Ljubljana (SI) Local Division Pierluigi Perrotti Judge Legally qualified Information to be added soon. Italy Milan (IT) Local Division Tobias Pichlmaier Judge Legally qualified In 2000 Tobias Pichlmaier started as a judge at the District Court in Munich (Chamber for Patent Litigation). Currently, Mr Pichlmaier is Presiding Judge at the same court. Germany Munich (DE) Local Division Petri Rinkinen Judge Legally qualified Petri Rinkinen has been focusing on intellectual property matters, first as an attorney, and then, as judge at the Market Court of Finland. Finland Helsinki (FI) Local Division Stefan Schilling Judge Legally qualified Stefan Schilling has been a judge at Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, 5th Civil Panel (Copyrights, Trademarks, Unfair Competition) since 2021. Germany Hamburg (DE) Local Division Walter Schober Judge Legally qualified Walter Schober has been appointed judge in 2001 and is working since 2014 at the Higher Regional Appeal Court in Vienna. Austria Vienna (AT) Local Division Bérénice Thom Judge Legally qualified Bérénice Thom entered the judicial service of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2011. In 2021 she was appointed presiding judge to the Düsseldorf Regional Court and since then has chaired the 4a patent litigation chamber. Germany Düsseldorf (DE) Local Division Ronny Thomas Judge Legally qualified Ronny Thomas has been a judge at the UPC Local Division Düsseldorf and Member of the Presidium since November 1st, 2022. Prior to his appointment, he served as Deputy Chairman of the 2. Civil Senat at the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. Germany Düsseldorf (DE) Local Division François Thomas Judge Legally qualified François Thomas completed his law studies in 1993 at the Bordeaux University. Between 1996 and 1998 he attended the National School of Magistrates, and became shortly after a civil judge at the Court of First Instance in Lille. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Peter Tochtermann Judge Legally qualified Prior to joining the Unified Patent Court, Peter Tochtermann was the Presiding Judge of the 7th Civil Chamber of the Regional Court Mannheim since September 2018, which regularly deals with large-scale patent infringement proceedings especially on SEPs in the telecommunication sector. Germany Mannheim (DE) Local Division Ulrike Voß Judge Legally qualified Ulrike Voß studied law in Trier. Since January 2014, she has been the presiding judge of the 15th Civil Senate responsible for patent litigation at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. Germany Munich (DE) Central Division - Section Alima Zana Judge Legally qualified Alima Zana has worked since 1999 as a civil judge at the Tribunal of Milan, where she has been assigned to the Court of First Instance for the Enterprises. She is specialised in IP law and competition law and has acted as rapporteur in many cases related to both European and National Patents. Italy Milan (IT) Local Division Tatyana Zhilova Judge Legally qualified Tatyana Zhilova is the Presiding judge at the Administrative Court Sofia, where she holds the rank of a Judge at the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Matthias Zigann Judge Legally qualified Matthias Zigann is Presiding Judge of the UPC Local Division Munich and Presiding Judge at the Higher Regional Court Munich. There he is heading the 38th Civil (IP) Senate since November 2022. Germany Munich (DE) Local Division
Court Judge name Legal/Technical - Select -Legally qualifiedTechnically qualified Court - Any -Court of AppealCourt of First Instance Division Luxembourg (LU) Division - Any -Seat of Paris (FR)Section of Munich (DE)Vienna (AT)Brussels (BE)Copenhagen (DK)Helsinki (FI)Paris (FR)Düsseldorf (DE)Hamburg (DE)Mannheim (DE)Munich (DE)Milan (IT)The Hague (NL)Lisbon (PT)Ljubljana (SI)Stockholm (SE) - SeatRiga (LV) - Place of hearingTallinn (EE) - Place of hearingVilnius (LT) - Place of hearing Technical field or technology - Any -BiotechnologyChemistry and PharmaceuticsElectricityMechanical EngineeringPhysics Judges Results Court of Appeal Klaus Grabinski President Legally qualified Klaus Grabinski studied law at the Universities of Trier, Geneva and Cologne. He passed the 1st and 2nd state examination in 1988 and 1992. Since November 2022, Klaus Grabinski serves as President of the Court of Appeal and chairperson of the Presidium of the Unified Patent Court. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Francoise Barutel Judge Legally qualified Francoise Barutel graduated from Sciences Po Paris with a master's degree in private law and a master's degree from ESSEC Business School. She joined the Judiciary in 1997 after ten years in marketing and sales' departments of private companies. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Peter Blok Judge Legally qualified Peter Blok is a professor in the Center for Intellectual Property Law of Utrecht University. He holds the Patent law chair. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Emanuela Germano Judge Legally qualified Emanuela Germano has graduated in 1979 from the Law Faculty of the University of Turin with a mark of 110/110, cum laude and honourable mention, with a dissertation on criminal law. Immediately after graduating, she trained as a solicitor, obtaining the title of lawyer, and working for a number of years as a lecturer in criminal law at the University of Turin. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Rian Kalden Judge Legally qualified Rian Kalden graduated at Leiden University and finished a Master (including Intellectual and Industrial Property law at LSE) at Londen University. She started her career joining the Amsterdam Bar with the law firm Stibbe, where she practised for almost 11 years. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Patricia Rombach Judge Legally qualified Patricia Rombach received her Doctor Juris at Freiburg Law School in 2000 with the Doctoral thesis: “Die anfängliche und nachträgliche Übersicherung bei revolvierenden Globalsicherheiten“. Between 2018 and 2019, Patricia was the Presiding Judge of the Competition Law Chamber at the Mannheim Regional Court. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Ingeborg Simonsson Judge Legally qualified Ingeborg Simonsson graduated from Stockholm University in 1993, specializing in intellectual property law. She holds an LLM degree in European business law from the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She has been a full time judge in Swedish courts since 2008, addressing all types of patent cases on a regular basis, as well as intellectual property law cases and civil litigation cases. Before becoming a judge, she did full time research and teaching at Stockholm University, where since 2009 she holds a degree of doctor of European law and associate professor (docent). Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU) Court of First Instance Florence Butin President Legally qualified Florence Butin graduated in civil law and has been serving in the French judiciary system for 25 years, successively as a public prosecutor and in the French ministry of justice where she was notably in charge of ethical issues, conduct, disciplinary proceedings and human resources. She joined the Paris court of first instance in 2012, and from this time onwards her functions were definitively oriented towards civil and economic litigation, first at the social chamber - in charge of collective labor disputes and consumer law - and later at the intellectual property chamber. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Mélanie Bessaud Judge Legally qualified Appointed as a French judge in 2005, Mélanie Bessaud has been a civil judge in intellectual and industrial property matter, dealing with patents, trademarks, industrial design, models, and unfair competition in the first instance Court of Paris for five years. Germany Munich (DE) Central Division - Section Edger Brinkman Judge Legally qualified Edger Brinkman finished his chemistry degree in 1993, specializing in biochemistry, and a law degree in 1995 at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. After joining the bar that same year as a solicitor/barrister in Amsterdam focusing on patents and regulatory affairs, he was appointed judge at the Court of The Hague, IP department in 2002. He became a senior judge in 2007. He has been involved in many patent and other IP cases and speaks regularly on international conferences. He is co-editor of a leading Dutch IP magazine (BIE). Netherlands The Hague (NL) Local Division Paolo Catallozzi Judge Legally qualified Hon. Paolo Catallozzi is currently a judge at the Supreme Court of Italy, assigned to the first civil chamber, and ordinarily deals with cases in the field of intellectual property and competition law, as well as banking, corporate and bankruptcy law. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Carine Gillet Judge Legally qualified Graduated from Strasbourg Law University and from French National Judiciary School, Carine Gillet has always been appointed as a judge in civil matters, since 1993. She dealt with IP cases in Tribunal de Grande Instance de Bobigny before 2009 and spent seven years at the First Instance Paris Court, specialized in IP matters, from 2014 to 2021. France Paris (FR) Local Division Samuel Granata Judge Legally qualified Judge Samuel Granata sits on the Court of Appeal of Antwerp (Belgium)(IP Chamber) and at the Benelux Court of Justice (Luxembourg)(Second Chamber – Appeals against decision of the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property). Further, he is the President of the Disciplinary Board of the Institute of Belgian Patent Agents. Belgium Brussels (BE) Local Division Maximilian Haedicke Judge Legally qualified Professor Dr. Maximilian Haedicke, LL.M. (Georgetown) is the Chair for Intellectual Property and Competition Law at Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, where he has been tenured since 2005. He was previously an assistant professor at Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Copyright, Patent and Competition Law in Munich. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Kai Härmand Judge Legally qualified Kai Härmand is a judge at the Harju County Court (First Instant) since 2020. She has worked as Deputy Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Justice from to 2012 to 2020. Sweden Stockholm (SE) - Seat of the Regional Division Stefan Johansson Judge Legally qualified Stefan Johansson is a Senior Judge at Stockholm District Court, where he currently works as Head of Division 3. He has been a judge at Stockholm District Court since 2013. Sweden Stockholm (SE) - Seat of the Regional Division Holger Kircher Judge Legally qualified Holger Kircher has obtained his Doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 1996 and has been the Presiding judge at the Regional Court in Mannheim (chamber for patent matters) since 2006. Germany Mannheim (DE) Local Division Sabine Klepsch Judge Legally qualified After studying chemistry in Ulm and Freiburg and law in Bonn, Sabine Klepsch began working as a judge at the Regional Court in Düsseldorf in 2001. She has been working in patent law since 2002 and in 2013 took over as presiding judge of the 4c. Civil Chamber, which was newly established at that time Germany Hamburg (DE) Local Division Margot Kokke Judge Legally qualified Margot Kokke holds an LLM as well as BSc (Chemistry) and MSc (biochemistry) degrees, all from Leiden University. Since 2014 she is a (patent) judge at the District Court The Hague. Netherlands The Hague (NL) Local Division Camille Lignieres Judge Legally qualified Camille Lignieres joined the Judiciary in 1994 after having graduated in Political Science and Private Law. In 2013, she joined the Paris Court of First Instance, in the Chamber specialising in Intellectual Property law, where she chaired as Presiding judge of a 3 judge-panel. France Paris (FR) Local Division Rute Lopes Judge Legally qualified Rute Lopes obtained her law degree in 1994. She has been working as a judge since 1997. Most recently she has been serving as judge at the Appeal Court, in Lisbon - Intellectual Property and Competition division. Portugal Lisbon (PT) Local Division Mojca Mlakar Judge Legally qualified Mojca Mlakar is a Higher Court Judge at Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia. She is sitting at the Department of Property Relations, Environment and Spatial Planning, Second Tribunal; as such she is specialized in the field of Intellectual Property and Competition Law. Slovenia Ljubljana (SI) Local Division Pierluigi Perrotti Judge Legally qualified Information to be added soon. Italy Milan (IT) Local Division Tobias Pichlmaier Judge Legally qualified In 2000 Tobias Pichlmaier started as a judge at the District Court in Munich (Chamber for Patent Litigation). Currently, Mr Pichlmaier is Presiding Judge at the same court. Germany Munich (DE) Local Division Petri Rinkinen Judge Legally qualified Petri Rinkinen has been focusing on intellectual property matters, first as an attorney, and then, as judge at the Market Court of Finland. Finland Helsinki (FI) Local Division Stefan Schilling Judge Legally qualified Stefan Schilling has been a judge at Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, 5th Civil Panel (Copyrights, Trademarks, Unfair Competition) since 2021. Germany Hamburg (DE) Local Division Walter Schober Judge Legally qualified Walter Schober has been appointed judge in 2001 and is working since 2014 at the Higher Regional Appeal Court in Vienna. Austria Vienna (AT) Local Division Bérénice Thom Judge Legally qualified Bérénice Thom entered the judicial service of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2011. In 2021 she was appointed presiding judge to the Düsseldorf Regional Court and since then has chaired the 4a patent litigation chamber. Germany Düsseldorf (DE) Local Division Ronny Thomas Judge Legally qualified Ronny Thomas has been a judge at the UPC Local Division Düsseldorf and Member of the Presidium since November 1st, 2022. Prior to his appointment, he served as Deputy Chairman of the 2. Civil Senat at the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. Germany Düsseldorf (DE) Local Division François Thomas Judge Legally qualified François Thomas completed his law studies in 1993 at the Bordeaux University. Between 1996 and 1998 he attended the National School of Magistrates, and became shortly after a civil judge at the Court of First Instance in Lille. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Peter Tochtermann Judge Legally qualified Prior to joining the Unified Patent Court, Peter Tochtermann was the Presiding Judge of the 7th Civil Chamber of the Regional Court Mannheim since September 2018, which regularly deals with large-scale patent infringement proceedings especially on SEPs in the telecommunication sector. Germany Mannheim (DE) Local Division Ulrike Voß Judge Legally qualified Ulrike Voß studied law in Trier. Since January 2014, she has been the presiding judge of the 15th Civil Senate responsible for patent litigation at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. Germany Munich (DE) Central Division - Section Alima Zana Judge Legally qualified Alima Zana has worked since 1999 as a civil judge at the Tribunal of Milan, where she has been assigned to the Court of First Instance for the Enterprises. She is specialised in IP law and competition law and has acted as rapporteur in many cases related to both European and National Patents. Italy Milan (IT) Local Division Tatyana Zhilova Judge Legally qualified Tatyana Zhilova is the Presiding judge at the Administrative Court Sofia, where she holds the rank of a Judge at the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat Matthias Zigann Judge Legally qualified Matthias Zigann is Presiding Judge of the UPC Local Division Munich and Presiding Judge at the Higher Regional Court Munich. There he is heading the 38th Civil (IP) Senate since November 2022. Germany Munich (DE) Local Division
Klaus Grabinski President Legally qualified Klaus Grabinski studied law at the Universities of Trier, Geneva and Cologne. He passed the 1st and 2nd state examination in 1988 and 1992. Since November 2022, Klaus Grabinski serves as President of the Court of Appeal and chairperson of the Presidium of the Unified Patent Court. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU)
Francoise Barutel Judge Legally qualified Francoise Barutel graduated from Sciences Po Paris with a master's degree in private law and a master's degree from ESSEC Business School. She joined the Judiciary in 1997 after ten years in marketing and sales' departments of private companies. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU)
Peter Blok Judge Legally qualified Peter Blok is a professor in the Center for Intellectual Property Law of Utrecht University. He holds the Patent law chair. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU)
Emanuela Germano Judge Legally qualified Emanuela Germano has graduated in 1979 from the Law Faculty of the University of Turin with a mark of 110/110, cum laude and honourable mention, with a dissertation on criminal law. Immediately after graduating, she trained as a solicitor, obtaining the title of lawyer, and working for a number of years as a lecturer in criminal law at the University of Turin. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU)
Rian Kalden Judge Legally qualified Rian Kalden graduated at Leiden University and finished a Master (including Intellectual and Industrial Property law at LSE) at Londen University. She started her career joining the Amsterdam Bar with the law firm Stibbe, where she practised for almost 11 years. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU)
Patricia Rombach Judge Legally qualified Patricia Rombach received her Doctor Juris at Freiburg Law School in 2000 with the Doctoral thesis: “Die anfängliche und nachträgliche Übersicherung bei revolvierenden Globalsicherheiten“. Between 2018 and 2019, Patricia was the Presiding Judge of the Competition Law Chamber at the Mannheim Regional Court. Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU)
Ingeborg Simonsson Judge Legally qualified Ingeborg Simonsson graduated from Stockholm University in 1993, specializing in intellectual property law. She holds an LLM degree in European business law from the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She has been a full time judge in Swedish courts since 2008, addressing all types of patent cases on a regular basis, as well as intellectual property law cases and civil litigation cases. Before becoming a judge, she did full time research and teaching at Stockholm University, where since 2009 she holds a degree of doctor of European law and associate professor (docent). Luxembourg Luxembourg (LU)
Florence Butin President Legally qualified Florence Butin graduated in civil law and has been serving in the French judiciary system for 25 years, successively as a public prosecutor and in the French ministry of justice where she was notably in charge of ethical issues, conduct, disciplinary proceedings and human resources. She joined the Paris court of first instance in 2012, and from this time onwards her functions were definitively oriented towards civil and economic litigation, first at the social chamber - in charge of collective labor disputes and consumer law - and later at the intellectual property chamber. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat
Mélanie Bessaud Judge Legally qualified Appointed as a French judge in 2005, Mélanie Bessaud has been a civil judge in intellectual and industrial property matter, dealing with patents, trademarks, industrial design, models, and unfair competition in the first instance Court of Paris for five years. Germany Munich (DE) Central Division - Section
Edger Brinkman Judge Legally qualified Edger Brinkman finished his chemistry degree in 1993, specializing in biochemistry, and a law degree in 1995 at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. After joining the bar that same year as a solicitor/barrister in Amsterdam focusing on patents and regulatory affairs, he was appointed judge at the Court of The Hague, IP department in 2002. He became a senior judge in 2007. He has been involved in many patent and other IP cases and speaks regularly on international conferences. He is co-editor of a leading Dutch IP magazine (BIE). Netherlands The Hague (NL) Local Division
Paolo Catallozzi Judge Legally qualified Hon. Paolo Catallozzi is currently a judge at the Supreme Court of Italy, assigned to the first civil chamber, and ordinarily deals with cases in the field of intellectual property and competition law, as well as banking, corporate and bankruptcy law. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat
Carine Gillet Judge Legally qualified Graduated from Strasbourg Law University and from French National Judiciary School, Carine Gillet has always been appointed as a judge in civil matters, since 1993. She dealt with IP cases in Tribunal de Grande Instance de Bobigny before 2009 and spent seven years at the First Instance Paris Court, specialized in IP matters, from 2014 to 2021. France Paris (FR) Local Division
Samuel Granata Judge Legally qualified Judge Samuel Granata sits on the Court of Appeal of Antwerp (Belgium)(IP Chamber) and at the Benelux Court of Justice (Luxembourg)(Second Chamber – Appeals against decision of the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property). Further, he is the President of the Disciplinary Board of the Institute of Belgian Patent Agents. Belgium Brussels (BE) Local Division
Maximilian Haedicke Judge Legally qualified Professor Dr. Maximilian Haedicke, LL.M. (Georgetown) is the Chair for Intellectual Property and Competition Law at Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, where he has been tenured since 2005. He was previously an assistant professor at Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Copyright, Patent and Competition Law in Munich. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat
Kai Härmand Judge Legally qualified Kai Härmand is a judge at the Harju County Court (First Instant) since 2020. She has worked as Deputy Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Justice from to 2012 to 2020. Sweden Stockholm (SE) - Seat of the Regional Division
Stefan Johansson Judge Legally qualified Stefan Johansson is a Senior Judge at Stockholm District Court, where he currently works as Head of Division 3. He has been a judge at Stockholm District Court since 2013. Sweden Stockholm (SE) - Seat of the Regional Division
Holger Kircher Judge Legally qualified Holger Kircher has obtained his Doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 1996 and has been the Presiding judge at the Regional Court in Mannheim (chamber for patent matters) since 2006. Germany Mannheim (DE) Local Division
Sabine Klepsch Judge Legally qualified After studying chemistry in Ulm and Freiburg and law in Bonn, Sabine Klepsch began working as a judge at the Regional Court in Düsseldorf in 2001. She has been working in patent law since 2002 and in 2013 took over as presiding judge of the 4c. Civil Chamber, which was newly established at that time Germany Hamburg (DE) Local Division
Margot Kokke Judge Legally qualified Margot Kokke holds an LLM as well as BSc (Chemistry) and MSc (biochemistry) degrees, all from Leiden University. Since 2014 she is a (patent) judge at the District Court The Hague. Netherlands The Hague (NL) Local Division
Camille Lignieres Judge Legally qualified Camille Lignieres joined the Judiciary in 1994 after having graduated in Political Science and Private Law. In 2013, she joined the Paris Court of First Instance, in the Chamber specialising in Intellectual Property law, where she chaired as Presiding judge of a 3 judge-panel. France Paris (FR) Local Division
Rute Lopes Judge Legally qualified Rute Lopes obtained her law degree in 1994. She has been working as a judge since 1997. Most recently she has been serving as judge at the Appeal Court, in Lisbon - Intellectual Property and Competition division. Portugal Lisbon (PT) Local Division
Mojca Mlakar Judge Legally qualified Mojca Mlakar is a Higher Court Judge at Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia. She is sitting at the Department of Property Relations, Environment and Spatial Planning, Second Tribunal; as such she is specialized in the field of Intellectual Property and Competition Law. Slovenia Ljubljana (SI) Local Division
Pierluigi Perrotti Judge Legally qualified Information to be added soon. Italy Milan (IT) Local Division
Tobias Pichlmaier Judge Legally qualified In 2000 Tobias Pichlmaier started as a judge at the District Court in Munich (Chamber for Patent Litigation). Currently, Mr Pichlmaier is Presiding Judge at the same court. Germany Munich (DE) Local Division
Petri Rinkinen Judge Legally qualified Petri Rinkinen has been focusing on intellectual property matters, first as an attorney, and then, as judge at the Market Court of Finland. Finland Helsinki (FI) Local Division
Stefan Schilling Judge Legally qualified Stefan Schilling has been a judge at Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, 5th Civil Panel (Copyrights, Trademarks, Unfair Competition) since 2021. Germany Hamburg (DE) Local Division
Walter Schober Judge Legally qualified Walter Schober has been appointed judge in 2001 and is working since 2014 at the Higher Regional Appeal Court in Vienna. Austria Vienna (AT) Local Division
Bérénice Thom Judge Legally qualified Bérénice Thom entered the judicial service of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2011. In 2021 she was appointed presiding judge to the Düsseldorf Regional Court and since then has chaired the 4a patent litigation chamber. Germany Düsseldorf (DE) Local Division
Ronny Thomas Judge Legally qualified Ronny Thomas has been a judge at the UPC Local Division Düsseldorf and Member of the Presidium since November 1st, 2022. Prior to his appointment, he served as Deputy Chairman of the 2. Civil Senat at the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. Germany Düsseldorf (DE) Local Division
François Thomas Judge Legally qualified François Thomas completed his law studies in 1993 at the Bordeaux University. Between 1996 and 1998 he attended the National School of Magistrates, and became shortly after a civil judge at the Court of First Instance in Lille. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat
Peter Tochtermann Judge Legally qualified Prior to joining the Unified Patent Court, Peter Tochtermann was the Presiding Judge of the 7th Civil Chamber of the Regional Court Mannheim since September 2018, which regularly deals with large-scale patent infringement proceedings especially on SEPs in the telecommunication sector. Germany Mannheim (DE) Local Division
Ulrike Voß Judge Legally qualified Ulrike Voß studied law in Trier. Since January 2014, she has been the presiding judge of the 15th Civil Senate responsible for patent litigation at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. Germany Munich (DE) Central Division - Section
Alima Zana Judge Legally qualified Alima Zana has worked since 1999 as a civil judge at the Tribunal of Milan, where she has been assigned to the Court of First Instance for the Enterprises. She is specialised in IP law and competition law and has acted as rapporteur in many cases related to both European and National Patents. Italy Milan (IT) Local Division
Tatyana Zhilova Judge Legally qualified Tatyana Zhilova is the Presiding judge at the Administrative Court Sofia, where she holds the rank of a Judge at the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court. France Paris (FR) Central Division - Seat
Matthias Zigann Judge Legally qualified Matthias Zigann is Presiding Judge of the UPC Local Division Munich and Presiding Judge at the Higher Regional Court Munich. There he is heading the 38th Civil (IP) Senate since November 2022. Germany Munich (DE) Local Division