LJUBLJANA LOCAL DIVISION Law and Practice Contributed by: Aleksandra Jemc Merc, Eva Gostiša and Eva Milošič, Jadek & Pensa Law Firm
prominent positions within European mediation networks, including serving as the first president of the Slovenian Association of Mediators from 2006 to 2011. 1.3 Specific Procedural Issues The Ljubljana Local Division adheres to the pro - cedural framework established by the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) and its Rules of Procedure. As these procedures are stand - ardised across all UPC divisions, the Ljubljana Local Division follows the same general proce - dural rules as other divisions across participating EU member states. As of April 2025, no cases have been initiated before the Ljubljana Local Division. Consequent - ly, no division-specific procedural issues have been identified yet. Furthermore, the language of the proceedings before the Ljubljana Local Division can either be Slovenian (as the official language of the state hosting the UPC division) or English (as the additional language, designated by the UPC division). If parties submit evidence in other lan - guages, they must provide a certified translation into either Slovenian or English, depending on the chosen language of the proceedings. This requirement follows the approach in national courts, where foreign-language documents typi - cally require official translation for admissibility. Given the technical nature of patent cases, trans - lation costs may become a significant factor, particularly for complex patent specifications, expert opinions, and other technical documents. As the Ljubljana Local Division has not yet faced procedural challenges, it remains to be seen how issues familiar from national patent litiga - tion (such as document handling and translation) will translate into the UPC context. The effective -
ness of the UPC’s centralised electronic case management system will play a crucial role in streamlining these processes and ensuring the timely and efficient resolution of disputes before the Ljubljana Local Division. 1.4 Regional Division Competence Slovenia hosts only a local division of the UPC’s Court of First Instance. As mentioned in 1.1 Basic Information , it is situated in Ljubljana. 1.5 Central Division Competence See 1.4 Regional Division Competence . 1.6 Court of Appeal: Purpose and Procedure There is no information available for this juris - diction. As of April 2025 and mentioned in 1.3 Specif- ic Procedural Issues , no case has been initi - ated before the Ljubljana Local Division. This includes all types of actions, such as infringe - ment actions, revocation actions, actions for declaration of non-infringement, applications for preliminary injunctions, applications for pres - ervation or production of evidence, and merits hearings. Therefore, no statistics information is available as of April 2025. The current inactivity of the Ljubljana Local Division can be attributed to several factors, including litigants’ preference for other jurisdic - tions and the early stage of the UPC system in Slovenia. As awareness of the UPC’s frame - work increases and stakeholders become more acquainted with its procedures, it is expected 2. Statistical Information 2.1 Types of Actions
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