Guessing the Temporary: Injunction or Injustice? Analysing the Position of Temporary Injunctions in IPR Matters

Abstract

As the society advances in technology, protection of intellectual property rights (“IPR”) becomes a necessity to promote innovation and competition. At first blush as well, when a courtroom witnesses an IPR injunction matter, the Civil law comes in handy with not only its inscribed, but also with judge-made jurisprudence. However, if one may embark upon the statistics concerning the grant of temporary injunctions in IPR matters specifically, it becomes evident that India’s justice-disposal is problematic for being caught up with delay, inadequate addressal, and pushes a clear saga of injustice. Thus, the main thrust of the present analysis is to identify the reasons behind such delay and explore a possible redressal. The paper begins with part I, which lays bare the position of IPR injunction in the Indian legislative bedrock. Against that backdrop, part II sheds light on the objectives of granting such injunctions and draws inspiration from international jurisprudence to connote the same. Then emerges the Triple Test, which is explained in depth impart III. Part IV then critically analyses the jurisprudence by relying on statistics and practical application of the law. Lastly, part V proposes solutions to the identified problems, and concludes the article.