SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Saud Alromi, Mostafa Ihab, Mohamed Ramadan and Saleh Albadry, Mohammed AlDhabaan & Partners Eversheds Sutherland
cations and grants designation based on the criteria outlined.
enforcement process begins once the judgment is final and binding. 5.3 Discretion to Award Injunctive Relief (Final or Preliminary) Courts in Saudi Arabia are granted the power to award damages in lieu of an injunction. 5.4 Damages Damages are awarded according to the Civil Transac ‑ tions Law to the extent required to remedy the sus ‑ tained harm and compensate the aggrieved party for the lost profit. Saudi Arabian law does not recognise punitive damages or legal interest. There is no pre ‑ scribed way to be followed by judges in awarding damages for patentee/exclusive licensees, and Saudi Arabian judges will apply the general rules prescribed in the Civil Transactions Law when calculating dam ‑ ages. There is no typical court judgment for the pharma/ biopharma/medical device industry, as courts are not bound by previous court decisions issued in similar cases. Damages are awarded to remedy actual sustained harm or compensate lost profit from the date at which harm was sustained or the date at which the profit was lost. Damages are awarded by virtue of the court decision, and there is no separate quantum hearing or proceedings. Damages are also not awarded via interim awards. If an injunction was issued and the plaintiff lost the case, the defendant will be at liberty to claim damages for the harm it sustained as a result of the wrongful injunction. There are no special considerations to take into account in this respect, and the general rules for awarding damages (wrongful act, harm and causal link) will apply. The patentee is usually the only person to claim dam ‑ ages against an alleged infringer. It is not usual for national health services to claim damages in these cases.
5. Relief Available for Patent Infringement 5.1 Preliminary Injunctive Relief
Undertakings in the form of a financial guarantee can be requested by the court ahead of issuing a PI. This undertaking serves as a guarantee to compensate the defendant for any damages incurred if it is later deter ‑ mined that the injunction was wrongfully granted. The undertaking typically remains in force until the final resolution of the case. PIs are enforced as per the terms of the Saudi Arabian Enforcement Law. Enforcement takes place through an application to be filed to the competent enforce ‑ ment court, and the method of actual enforcement will differ depending on the nature of the injunction. Once an enforcement application is accepted by the enforcement court, the respondent will be notified to voluntarily comply with the injunction within five days. If the five days lapse before the respondent voluntary complies with the injunction, the enforcement court will proceed with compulsory enforcement. If a financial guarantee is required before the PI is issued, the court may decide the quantum of such guarantee. However, there are no guidelines on how this quantum will be determined. It will usually be an amount sufficient to compensate the defendant for the potential harm should the plaintiff lose the case. If a PI is issued, the plaintiff will file the main claim within seven days as from the date of issuing the injunction. Appealing the decision imposing the PI does not result in the PI enforcement being stayed. 5.2 Final Injunctive Relief There is no distinction in Saudi Arabian law between PIs and final injunctions as both are dealt with as a form of interim/summary relief. The same provisions which apply to PIs apply to final injunctions. Final injunctions in Saudi Arabia become enforceable upon the issuance of a written decision by the court. The
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