Cross-Border Patent Litigation Revival 'Solvay vs Honeywell'

The Dutch courts used to be known for their judgments with cross-border effect in patent litigation, following a ruling of the Dutch Supreme Court in in 1989 in Lincoln vs Interlas. The main issues in subsequent cases to come before the Dutch courts were whether the court would have jurisdiction to grant injunctions with effect abroad or whether there were reasons to hold back on granting this cross-border relief.

There has never been any doubt in Holland that the court of the domicile of a defendant does have jurisdiction to grant injunctions against that defendant for all countries where he commits infringements. The cross-border jurisdiction issue arose most frequently where foreign members of the same group of companies were summoned in proceedings on the basis of Article 6 of the Brussels Regulation where the jurisdiction of the Dutch courts was primarily based on the domicile of a Dutch co-defendant from that same group.