Florence Butin

Florence Butin is a French judge and one of the most senior judicial figures within the Unified Patent Court (UPC), where she serves as president of the Court of First Instance. 

Prior to her appointment to the UPC, Butin served for many years as a judge within the French judiciary, where she developed specialist expertise in patent and other intellectual property disputes. 

Her background in national patent litigation provided the foundation for her later role in the development of the UPC, which brings together judges from multiple European jurisdictions to hear cross-border patent cases under a single legal framework.

Since the UPC began operations in June 2023, she has been one of the key institutional figures responsible for establishing procedural consistency across the Court of First Instance. 

In this role, she holds one of the highest offices in the UPC judicial structure and plays a central part in shaping the administration and early jurisprudence of Europe’s new unified patent litigation system. 

She oversees the functioning of the court’s local, regional, and central divisions, ensuring the smooth operation of case allocation, judicial coordination, and procedural standards across participating EU member states. 

Butin also sits on the UPC Presidium, the court’s governing body, alongside senior judges from the Court of Appeal and other divisions.In addition to her administrative responsibilities, she presides over cases in the UPC’s central and local divisions, particularly in Paris, one of the court’s key seats. 

Her decisions and procedural directions have played an important role in shaping early UPC practice, especially in relation to case management and procedural efficiency.