In an opinion by the New Jersey District Court in December, the Court found that a requested preliminary injunction against infringement of US Patent No. 6,293,731 could shut down a port dredging project and jeopardize the creation of 2,000 projected jobs and $12 million in tax revenue . “Therefore, the public interest weighs in favor of denying the preliminary injunction.” Weeks Marine, Inc. v. TDM America, LLC, 2-11-cv-03850 (NJD December 14, 2011, Order) (Salas, M.J.) (The full opinion is available on pacer, or you can email me for a copy).

The basic requirements for granting a preliminary injunction are the same in patent cases as in any case:

1) likelihood of success on the merits at trial

2) irreparable harm to the plaintiff absent the preliminary injunction

3) balance of harm weighs in favor of the injunction and

4) consideration of the public interest.

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