Calidad Pty Ltd v Seiko Epson Corporation (No 2)

Calidad Pty Ltd sought relief from Seiko Epson Corporation in the Federal Court of Australia for patent infringement. The dispute centred around the infringement of two patents related to thermal inkjet printers. The patents in question were for a method of operating a thermal inkjet printer and a printer incorporating such a method. Calidad claimed that Seiko Epson had infringed these patents by manufacturing and selling printers that used similar technology.

The legal issues before the court were whether a declaration should be granted to affirm the validity of Calidad's patents, the form that such a declaration should take, and whether injunctions should be granted to prevent further infringement. Additionally, the court needed to determine the appropriate form of those injunctions, including whether it was appropriate to grant an injunction in general form. The court was also tasked with considering the appropriate form of orders to give effect to the Full Court’s reasons for judgment on appeal.

The court found that a declaration should be granted to affirm the validity of Calidad's patents, but the form of that declaration was to be limited to stating the patents' validity without asserting their scope. Regarding injunctions, the court ruled that they should be granted to prevent Seiko Epson from continuing to infringe the patents. However, the injunctions were to be tailored to specifically address the identified infringing activities rather than being in general form. The court emphasised the importance of tailored injunctions to balance the rights of both parties and to avoid overly broad restrictions on Seiko Epson's operations.