Multi-Jurisdiction Robot Wars: Injunctions And Without Prejudice Negotiations

Online retailer Ocado has been denied an interim injunction to restrain Autostore from referring to 2018 without prejudice discussions between the parties (or any related documents) at a US International Trade Commission ("ITC") hearing due to take place in August this year.  The case is of interest both because it arose as part of multi-jurisdiction litigation with ongoing settlement negotiations and for the discussion of the relevant burden on the grant of an interim injunction in the circumstances.  In this note, we set out some practical tips given that the judge decided that there was a high evidential burden on Ocado to justify its application.

The application was made as part of infringement proceedings relating to six UK designated European patents which Autostore asserts are infringed by Ocado's warehouse technology - this English action itself forming part of a series of patent disputes between these parties spanning multiple jurisdictions.  In