Thursday, December 4, 2008

Prior license does not automatically preclude finding of irreparable harm

"A rule that any patent holder that licensed its product could never obtain a preliminary injunction is at odds with the purpose of 35 U.S.C. § 103. Patent holders are granted exclusive authority to grant licenses and to refuse licenses; such that a patent holder could license to small non-threatening operations, but refuse to license to a competitor that could run the patent holder out of business. The court could be presented with a situation where a patent holder has licensed to non-threatening competitors but is facing irreparable harm because of a large competitor’s unlicensed infringement."


Automated Merchandising Systems, Inc. v. Crane Co., 3-08-cv-00097 (WVND December 2, 2008, Order)

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