Preliminary injunction: documents to prepare
A preliminary injunction against suspected patent infringement is granted only when the applicant shows urgency, a real risk of harm that cannot wait for a full trial, and a case strong enough on the merits to justify acting before the other side is heard. Getting the file ready — patent extract, infringement evidence, loss calculation, draft order — is what decides whether a court can move in days rather than weeks.
How the procedure works
Courts across the participating jurisdictions hold the power to order interim relief before a full hearing on the merits. That power sits in the ordinary procedural rules applied by the competent court and kicks in whenever the applicant proves that waiting for trial would cause harm money cannot later repair.
A preliminary injunction is not a ruling on infringement. It freezes a situation — a product stays off shelves, a process stops — while the main case runs its course. If the main case later fails, the applicant typically compensates the other side for the freeze.
What changes once you file
Filing shifts the clock in a way a standard claim does not. A complete file can move to a decision within days. A file missing one exhibit, one translation, or one signature can sit for weeks while the court asks for the gap to be closed. In practice, a missing document stalls more applications than a weak legal argument does.
This is the point of no return in a practical sense, not a formal one: once the other side is served, the element of surprise disappears, and any weakness in the file becomes visible to them at the same moment it becomes visible to the court.
Documents to prepare
| Document | Purpose | Prepared by |
|---|---|---|
| Patent certificate or extract | Confirms ownership and that the right is currently in force | Applicant, checked by counsel |
| Evidence of the infringing act | Shows the specific act complained of, dated and attributable | Applicant, sometimes with an expert opinion |
| Urgency and loss statement | Explains why the harm cannot wait for a full trial | Applicant, drafted with counsel |
| Security or bond offer | Covers the respondent's loss if the injunction later proves unjustified | Counsel, based on figures supplied by the applicant |
| Draft order | Gives the court a ready template to sign or amend | Counsel |
Follow these steps in order, and keep the same person accountable for each one:
- Confirm the patent extract is current. The applicant's own team pulls this before any drafting starts, because an expired or lapsed right ends the case before it begins.
- Collect dated evidence of the infringing act — samples, receipts, screenshots with timestamps. The applicant gathers this; counsel cannot invent what was not recorded at the time.
- Write the urgency statement only after real figures on lost sales or diverted customers are available. A statement built on estimates alone rarely survives scrutiny.
- Calculate a security offer proportional to the harm an unjustified injunction would cause the other side. Counsel prepares this once the scale of the dispute is clear.
- File the complete package and request an expedited hearing where the applicable rules allow one. A partial file filed early is usually worse than a complete file filed a day later.
- Stay reachable in the days after filing. Courts that move fast on urgency also ask fast follow-up questions, and a delayed answer can cost the advantage gained by speed.
Who decides and when
The competent court in the jurisdiction where the infringement occurs decides on interim relief. Where the patent carries unitary effect, the Unified Patent Court exercises this power directly, through its local or regional division. Naming the right forum before filing avoids a delay that has nothing to do with the merits of the case.
A first procedural signal — a decision to treat the matter as urgent, or a request for further evidence — typically arrives within one to two weeks of filing. Relief granted without first hearing the other side, where the urgency is well documented, can arrive within days rather than weeks.
Which scenario fits your case
If the infringing act is visible and ongoing — a product already on sale — an order granted without first hearing the other side is realistic, provided the file is complete from day one.
If the infringing act is a service or a process rather than a physical product, evidence is harder to fix in place, and the court is more likely to call a short hearing before deciding. That typically adds one to three weeks.
If the respondent sits outside the court's jurisdiction, service of the application becomes the practical bottleneck, not the strength of the case itself.
What this page does not cover
This page does not predict the outcome — that depends on facts only a court weighs, case by case. It covers the preparatory stage, not the main infringement action that follows once interim relief is decided one way or the other.
If the dispute also involves licensing income recorded outside the patent register rather than the infringing act itself, that is a separate question: When royalties encoded on-chain are ignored explained.
Where the dispute sits alongside a decision on whether to appoint a developer or supplier at all, the relevant question is answered separately, in the Counterparty report before appointing a developer in detail.
Verified
Checked against the procedural rules applied by the competent courts and, for patents with unitary effect, by the Unified Patent Court, as of March 2025. Where a jurisdiction's own procedural code sets a different sequence, that sequence takes precedence over the general pattern described here.
Related reading
Once the injunction stage closes, either way, the next stage is the case on the merits: Main infringement action step by step.
Next step
If your dispute already touches ownership of the underlying work rather than the infringement itself — a data set, a design file, a piece of code — start with What to do first in this situation and the guidance rather than the injunction stage.
Where timing is already tight, you can Put the question to a partner explained rather than wait for a scheduled call.
FAQ
How long does a preliminary injunction take in practice?
A complete file can produce a first procedural signal within one to two weeks, and relief granted without hearing the other side first can arrive within days. An incomplete file adds weeks, regardless of how strong the underlying case is.
Which documents are needed to start?
A current patent extract, dated evidence of the infringing act, an urgency and loss statement, a security offer, and a draft order. Missing any one of these is the most common reason a filing stalls.
What happens if the other side does not respond?
Where relief was granted without first hearing them, the respondent can still challenge the order afterwards. Silence at that stage does not confirm the order — it only means the challenge, if it comes, arrives later rather than before the decision.