Pretrial injunctive relief explained

When it becomes known that a patent has been infringed, businesses do not have to simply accept the infringement until the courts run through their processes and come to a verdict. Instead, affected patent owners can seek temporary relief from the infringement. At Millstone, Peterson & Watts, LLP, our staff often recommends that our clients seek pretrial injunctive relief to prevent the infringing party from further benefiting from their patents and, as a result, further damaging our clients.

According to Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute, the goal of pretrial injunctive relief is to ensure that the status quo is properly maintained before a judgment is made. For example, a preliminary injunction is designed to keep a party from experiencing further harm should their claims against an infringing party prove true.

Without the injunction, the offending party would continue to benefit from its actions, and may be inclined to prolong litigation as long as possible to keep profiting from an infringed patent. This would almost be sure to cause the true patent holder irreparable harm, so the courts may require both sides to cease their actions regarding the patent in question until a judgment is made.

To have a preliminary injunction issued by the court, the moving party must first prove that it will suffer irreparable harm during a hearing on the matter. The judge makes the determination and either grants the injunction and oversees the parties’ compliance, or denies it and allows the parties to proceed as they were. Visit our web page to learn more about this subject.