When an injunction application is served: what it costs to be wrong
Being served with an injunction application starts a live procedural clock, not a negotiation. Ignore it, and the order can become final by default. Contest it on the wrong ground, and you may still lose while paying the other side's costs. Both outcomes are avoidable only by moving inside the window the forum has set.
The basis for the order
If the patent asserted against you is a European patent with unitary effect, jurisdiction over an injunction application lies with the Unified Patent Court under the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. Unitary protection itself is created by Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012, and translation duties for the underlying patent follow Council Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012.
If the patent is a classic national patent outside that system, the application proceeds under the applicable national patent law and its own injunction procedure. The forum, not this page, sets the exact route.
Where the dispute also concerns goods crossing an external EU border, customs authorities can act on the same right under Regulation (EU) No 608/2013, independently of any court order.
What changes once the application is served
Service starts a response deadline set by the forum, not by a fixed rule stated here. Missing it is treated as if you had no defence at all, and an order can be granted on the applicant's version of events alone.
An injunction, once granted, typically takes effect immediately, before any appeal is heard. Continuing the disputed activity after that point is a separate wrong, on top of the original claim.
If you are the applicant and the injunction is later found to have been wrongly obtained, you can be ordered to compensate the other side for the harm it caused. A separate costs order can follow on top of that.
What to do, in order
- Record the date and method of service the same day; the deadline runs from that date, not from when you read the papers.
- Identify the forum named in the application and confirm whether it is the Unified Patent Court or a national court.
- Instruct counsel to review the evidence filed with the application before drafting any response, not after.
- Preserve internal records of the disputed activity, including anything held by delivery partners. Check the retention policy described in Subprocessors, including local delivery partners and the deadline.
- Decide, with counsel, whether to contest the merits, the jurisdiction, or the procedure. These are different defences and cannot be mixed at the last hour.
- File within the window; a request for extension is not the same as an extension granted.
Who decides, and on what evidence
| Situation | Forum | What it looks at first |
|---|---|---|
| Unitary patent | Unified Patent Court, Court of First Instance | Evidence of infringement and urgency filed with the application |
| National patent | The competent national court named in the application | The same, under that court's own procedure |
| Border seizure alongside the claim | Customs authority acting under Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 | Whether the goods match the right holder's application on file |
None of these forums wait for a full trial before deciding an injunction application. The standard applied at this stage is whether the claim looks sufficiently strong and urgent, not whether it will ultimately succeed.
Three ways this can go
The patent right might have been developed inside a corporate group, with the enforcing entity different from the one that did the work. Ownership itself can then be open to challenge, close to what happens When a subsidiary paid for work the parent uses.
The disputed technology might also be licensed, with the licence record kept on a distributed ledger. That raises a related question, close to what happens When a licence terminates but the token remains step.
If neither applies and the patent stands alone, the case turns on the four elements above: service date, forum, evidence, and the window you have to respond.
What this page does not resolve
This page describes the procedure and the forum. It does not value the claim, does not estimate the likely outcome, and does not replace advice on the specific evidence filed against you.
It also does not cover what happens if the counterparty behind the application changes identity mid-dispute. That question is addressed separately in the Counterparty report when the counterparty changes name and the situation. The same due-diligence file feeds directly into how a response to an injunction is prepared.
Verified
Checked on 15 January 2025. Sources cited: Agreement on a Unified Patent Court; Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012; Council Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012; Regulation (EU) No 608/2013.
Related situations
A parallel pressure point sits in licensing rather than litigation: When a licensee stops paying and keeps selling: what it costs on that side of the same right.
FAQ
What is the first step when an injunction application is served?
Record the exact date and method of service. The response deadline is measured from that date, and the forum treats it as fixed regardless of when the papers were actually read.
Which deadline is already running?
The deadline for filing a response or opposition. Its length is set by the forum handling the application, not by a fixed rule stated on this page, and it starts at service, not at instruction of counsel.
Who decides, and on what evidence?
The Unified Patent Court's Court of First Instance for a unitary patent, or the competent national court for a classic national patent. Both decide on the evidence of infringement and urgency filed with the application itself, before any full trial.
I review injunction applications the same day they are served, because the clock set by the forum does not pause for internal sign-off.
— Vaidas Kudirka