Jurisdictional Battles in Both European Union Cross-Border Injunctions and United States Anti-Suit Injunctions
39 Pages Posted: 19 Apr 2013 Last revised: 25 Sep 2014
Date Written: May 16, 2014
Abstract
Some European Union national courts issue cross-border injunctions in an effort to consolidate multi-national patent litigation. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) upheld this practice in Solvay v. Honeywell. In the decision, the ECJ left it to the national courts to decide which cases the courts have jurisdiction to issue a cross-border injunction. However, the Court gave national courts very little guidance on what to consider when issuing a cross-border injunction.
U.S. courts have encountered a similar form of an injunction used to consolidate multi-national litigation - the anti-suit injunction. In anti-suit injunction cases, United States courts developed a framework to equitably balance the policy concerns regarding multi-national sovereignty. Because European Union national courts do not currently have a framework to determine when a cross-border injunction is proper, European national courts could look at the framework used in United States anti-suit injunction cases.
Keywords: patent litigation, cross border injunctions, Solvay v. Honeywell, anti suit injunctions, Microsoft v. Motorola, unified patent court
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