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Closely shadowing earlier events, on 22 September 2025 an order was issued by the Düsseldorf Local Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) permitting OTEC Präzisionsfinish GmbH (OTEC) to inspect a functioning electropolishing machine at the EMO manufacturing show 2025, an internationally-reputed industrial fair in Hannover, Germany.
This order follows a similar order issued by the same Division a short time earlier, permitting OTEC to inspect two "Compact" electropolishing machine models at the Interdental Show in Cologne. However, in the later order, the panel acknowledged that it had not been possible to inspect a PRO500 machine on the prior occasion as it had not been exhibited there. Getting access to the PRO500 machine was deemed "virtually impossible" for OTEC using other routes as the machines were only sold via a small, trusted network of resellers.
The order issued on the day OTEC filed their application for inspection and preservation of evidence and required STEROS to put the machine into operation on site. The panel were satisfied that the situation warranted an urgent decision without hearing STEROS. The EMO fair was scheduled to last for just 5 days. Moreover, the panel noted "a serious risk" that the machine could be removed from the exhibition grounds at short notice, and/or that individual pre-programmed polishing processes – particularly important here given that the Patent's claim 1 is in the method category – could be deactivated by means of a software update, resulting in a loss of evidence on infringement.
The ability to obtain orders for inspection and preservation of evidence from the UPC is clearly a powerful tool and one that is now used regularly.
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