SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Håkan Borgenhäll, Malin Malm Waerme, Åsa Hellstadius and Arvid Axelryd, Advokatfirman Vinge KB
5.4 Other Court Proceedings The court decides whether a case should be stayed pending the resolution of other proceed- ings. Parallel proceedings, such as revocation proceedings and/or anti-suit injunctions, do not influence the current proceedings as a starting point. However, if it is clear that the validity of a patent will be determined in the near future, the court will likely stay ongoing infringement proceedings.
amount of such damages will then need to be decided in subsequent proceedings. 5.2 Decision-Makers In Sweden, the Patent and Market Court and the Patent and Market Court of Appeal are special- ised IP and competition courts, so the appointed judges are specialised in intellectual property law, competition law and marketing law. The composition of the court depends on the specific decision in question and in which instance the proceedings are pending. As a rule, both legal judges and technical judges deter- mine decisions on the merits of a case. The parties may not affect the court’s decision on whether a legal or technical judge should determine the case. However, the parties are informed about the choice of technical judge/ judges, and can then make an objection that there is an apparent conflict of interest (the same There are no formal mechanisms for settling a case. The parties may settle a case either with- out third-party involvement or with assistance from the court (through non-mandatory settle- ment conferences or court mediation). The case can be settled until the day of the judgment. It may be noted that the court is obliged to inves- tigate the possibility of a settlement during the preparatory stage of the proceedings. applies to legal judges). 5.3 Settling the Case If the parties reach a settlement, they may choose either to have the settlement confirmed in a judgment by the court or, should they pre- fer to keep it confidential, to withdraw the case jointly.
6. Remedies 6.1 Remedies for the Patentee Injunctions
A patentee can file a request at the court for an injunction subject to a default fine, pursu- ant to the terms of which the alleged infringer is enjoined from continuing its allegedly infringing conduct. Such an injunction is available both as a permanent injunction and as an interim injunc- tion. For an interim injunction to be granted, the patentee must show that there is probable cause for infringement. It must also be a reasonable assumption that the continuation of the infring- ing act will diminish the value of the exclusive right in the patent. Finally, the patentee must provide security for the potential loss of the alleged infringer. Damages If an infringer has not acted with intent or negli- gence, damages are limited to reasonable com- pensation for the use of the invention subject to the patent. If an infringer has acted with intent or negligence, the patentee also has the right to additional compensation for the additional loss resulting from the infringement. When determin- ing the amount of additional compensation, the court will consider in particular:
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