Munich International
Patent Law Conference
2017
Preliminary Injunctive Relief Against Patent Infringements
23 June 2017

Munich International Patent Law Conference 2017 topic outline:
Preliminary Injunctive Relief Against Patent Infringements
The topic of our Munich International Patent Law Conference 2017 is as relevant as it is controversial, because not even within Germany, patent infringement courts agree upon the exact requirements that need to be met for a preliminary injunction to be issued.
Rather, there is a whole array of disagreement, partly due to the consequences that preliminary injunctions against alleged infringers usually will have. In all settings in which preliminary injunctive relief is sought against alleged infringers, patent quality is a major issue; not to the least in the German system of bifurcation, where patent infringements and patent validity are tried before different courts. Here, as everywhere, patent infringement courts need to decide which requirements need to met in order for preliminary injunctive relief being available.
As regards patent quality, one question is, whether patents in suit must have survived patent office opposition proceedings or even an annulment suit before the German Federal Patent court or whether infringement courts can judge freely whether said patent forms a sufficient basis for preliminary relief.
Further questions are urgency and the weighing of interest. Is there time pressure, so that a preliminary injunction can be claimed only within weeks after the applicant has learnt about an (alleged) infringement? And do courts need to consider economic consequences that their decisions are likely to yield?
The Munich International Patent Law Conference 2017 aims to explore the requirements under which preliminary injunctive relief against patent infringements is available before courts in Germany, France, the UK, the U.S. and a fifth country that will be announced as soon as a patent judge from the country we are interested in has agreed to speak on this country’s judicial practice.
Speakers

Christoph Ann
TUM Professor of Law
Technical University of Munich, Germany

Marie-Christine Courboulay
Vice-President
Tribunal de Grande Instance,
Paris, France

The Rt Hon Sir Christopher Floyd
Lord Justice of Appeal
Court of Appeal of England and Wales, United Kingdom

Klaus Grabinski
Federal Judge
Federal Court of Justice, Germany

Peter Gunz
Former Presiding Judge
Regional Court Munich I, Germany

Johannes Heselberger
Attorney at Law, European Patent Attorney
Bardehle Pagenberg, Germany

Hans-Joachim Heßler
President
Regional Court Munich I, Germany

Sabine Klepsch
Presiding Judge
Regional Court Düsseldorf, Germany

James L. Robart
Federal Judge
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Seattle, USA

Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer
President
German Patent and Trademark Office

Reinhard Hinger
Presiding Judge
Higher Regional Court of Vienna, Austria

Tobias Wuttke
Attorney at Law
Meissner Bolte, Germany

Matthias Zigann
Presiding Judge
Regional Court Munich I, Germany
Gallery
Contact
- events@munichinternationalpatentlaw.de
- +49 -89 - 289 28662
MPLC
Munich International Patent Law Conference