Remedies for patent infringement include an injunction and, if the defendant's infringing acts were intentional or negligent, damages. The court may also order an infringer to take appropriate steps to restore the business reputation of one whose reputation has been harmed by the patent infringement. Validity of a patent is a matter for a separate trial before the Patent Office rather than the court hearing the infringement action. However, the court may consider the strength of any attack being made on the validity of a patent in order to determine whether to delay the infringement action pending a final decision on validity by the Patent Office. An additional form of post-grant proceeding is also possible, as in Japan, in that the Patentee can amend the patent in separate amendment or correction trial proceedings before the Patent Office.
Preliminary injunctions are in theory available but are very rare in patent actions.
To obtain a preliminary injunction a deposit of money into court will be required to provide some protection to the defendant against the possibility he may succeed at trial. Patent infringement actions can take as little as three to four months to secure a first instance judgement on infringement, but delays of up to three years or more are known. The loser may be ordered to contribute to the winner's costs. 91HU1809 and 91HU1908 all of which indicate that the scope of protection should not go beyond the ambit of the claims.