The possibility of a preliminary injunction against patent infringement was introduced into French law in 1984, but the conditions for obtaining one have varied over time. Thierry Caen takes a look at the most recent changes.
The latest amendment is the result of the transposition of Directive 2004/48/CE on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights of April 29, 2004 into French law as Article L.615-3 of the IP Code.
The transposition introduced three changes to French law:
- The possibility of obtaining a preliminary injunction upon petition without the alleged infringer expressing its position on the infringement;
- The judge may order measures to forestall an imminent breach of patent rights, before any act of infringement has been committed; and
- A preliminary injunction may be ordered when the patent holder is able to show that it is “likely” that its rights are infringed.
Injunction upon petition: rarely requested, rarely granted
The rest of this article is locked for subscribers only. Please login to continue reading.
If you don't have a login, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content. Please use this link and follow the steps.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription to us that we can add you to for FREE, please email Atif Choudhury at achoudhury@worldipreview.com
preliminary injunctions, patent infringement
