ntly lower than in the U.S. Moreover, unlike in the U.S., where litigants usually pay their own attorneys’ fees, the UPC follows the Loser Pays rule, whereby the successful party’s attorneys’ fees are, with certain limits and exceptions, borne by the unsuccessful party. The stark difference in whether the losing party has to reimburse the winner’s costs can be expected to result in quite different litigation strategies. Plaintiffs in the UPC will have to be more cautious than plaintiffs in the U.S. in bringing suit and will not be able to use litigation costs as leverage to negotiate a favorable settlement in the same way as they often do in the U.S. Defendants in the UPC, on the other hand, have less incentive than in the U.S. to agree to a settlement if the plaintiff’s case is weak, since if they prevail, most or all of their litigation costs will be covered by the losing plaintiff.Georg Reitboeck and Mark Chapman are IP litigation partners at Haug Partners LLP in New York City.1See 28 U.S.C. § 1914 ($350 plus additional fee prescribed by the Judicial Conference of the United States, currently $52).2 Assuming the petition for review is granted. See 37 CFR § 42.15.3See 35 U.S.C. 311(a).4See UPC Agreement, Article 36(3).5See UPC Agreement, Article 70 for the parties’ general obligation to pay court fees.6See UPC Agreement, Article 36(3); UPC Rules of Procedure (RoP), Rule 370(3).7See UPC Administrative Committee, Table of Court Fees (8 July 2022), Sections I and II.8See id.9See UPC RoP, Rule 370(9).10See Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, 2003/361/EC, Annex, Title I, Art. 2.11See id.12See UPC RoP, Rule 370(8).13See UPC RoP, Rule 370(6).14See UPC RoP, Rules 13(1)(p) and 24(i).15See UPC RoP, Rules 22(1).16See UPC RoP, Rule 370(6); Decision of the Administrative Committee of 24 April 2023 on the Guidelines for the Determination of Court Fees and the Ceiling of Recoverable Costs of the Successful Party (“Guide