Preliminary Injunction Requires Connection Between Alleged Infringement and Alleged Harm

The court denied defendants' motion for a preliminary injunction to preclude the sales of plaintiffs' advanced energy vessel sealing instruments because defendants failed to establish irreparable harm. "Because . . . it is far from 'clear' on the present record that there is any connection between [plaintiffs'] alleged infringement and the harms [defendants] cite[] – the Court need not consider whether those harms are, in fact, irreparable. [Defendants'] nexus argument rests on two related assumptions: that the [plaintiffs' previous device] failed commercially because it did not provide reliable vessel sealing; and that [the accused device] remedied the supposed sealing problem by incorporating stop members disclosed in the [patent-in-suit]. Neither assumption is borne out by the record. . . . Moreover, the weight of evidence before the Court suggests various factors besides the patented stop members are responsible for the [accused device's] early success. Accordingly, [defendants have] not shown irreparable harm resulting from the alleged infringement."

Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. et al v. Covidien LP et al, 1-16-cv-12556 (MAD October 2, 2017, Order) (Sorokin, MJ)