Injunctions in Patent Cases After eBay, 7 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 44 (2007)

The United States Constitution gives Congress the power to grant to inventors exclusive rights to their inventions. Accordingly, 35 U.S.C. § 154(a) states that every patent grants to the patentee exclusive rights to make and use their inventions, and 35 U.S.C. § 283 provides that a court may grant injunctions in accordance with the principles of equity. The Federal Circuit developed a general standard that a permanent injunction should issue, except in extraordinary standards, after a patent is judicially declared valid. However, in May 2006, the Supreme Court overruled that standard in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., declaring that the traditional four-pronged test of equity must be applied in patent cases.

This article reviews Federal Circuit and district court patent cases that were faced with whether to grant preliminary or permanent injunctions after eBay.