UPC APP 43960/2024

Order of the Mannheim Local Division on an application by Panasonic Holdings Corporation for alternative service on Xiaomi H.K. Limited under Rule 275.2 RoP. The court had exhausted all formal service methods under Rules 270-274 RoP. The central authority of the requested state (presumably China/Hong Kong) had refused service because the claim described Xiaomi's headquarters in a way that did not align with its political preferences regarding the name of the defendant's location. The court held: (1) no repeated service attempt is required once all Rule 270-274 methods have been exhausted and the central authority has definitively refused on political grounds; (2) the court will not redact or censor party submissions at the request of a foreign authority; (3) the alternative service order under Rule 275.2 must be published on the UPC homepage when conventional service would also be refused for the same reasons.