Preliminary Injunctions Readily Available For Process Patents In The UK

The UK High Court has again shown its willingness to grant preliminary injunctions in its decision BASF v Sipcam (UK) Limited. (see our previous article "Preliminary injunctions available in the UK despite first instance invalidity finding"). This decision highlights the importance of pre-trial conduct and the need for cooperation between parties if they are to avoid adverse decisions in actions for injunctive relief in the UK.

Patentees will be pleased to see the UK courts handing out preliminary injunctions for process patents, even when the court thinks the issues of infringement are far from clear cut.

The dispute

BASF holds a patent protecting a process of encapsulating pendimethalin, a herbicide used to treat fields of wheat and barley. The patent relates to BASF's encapsulated pendimethalin product sold under the brand name Stomp Aqua. The patented process requires a particular order of steps with regard to the addition of a salt and a wall forming agent