E.I Du Pont De Nemours & Company v Starwell Australia Pty Ltd

The dispute before the Federal Court of Australia concerned an application by E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Company (Du Pont) for an interlocutory injunction against Starwell Australia Pty Ltd. Du Pont sought to restrain Starwell from infringing its Australian Patent No. 577,511, which relates to a method for producing a specific type of polymer. The core of the dispute lay in whether Starwell's manufacturing process, which Du Pont alleged used its patented technology, constituted an infringement.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether Du Pont had established a sufficient likelihood of success on the merits of its patent infringement claim to warrant the grant of an interlocutory injunction. This required the Court to consider the validity of Du Pont's patent and whether Starwell's process fell within the scope of the patent claims. Specifically, the Court had to assess whether Starwell's alleged infringement was clear and substantial, and whether the balance of convenience favoured granting the injunction.

In reaching its decision, the Court applied the principles governing the grant of interlocutory injunctions, which necessitate a demonstration by the applicant of a serious question to be tried and that damages would not be an adequate remedy. The Court examined the technical evidence presented by both parties regarding the polymerisation process and the interpretation of the patent claims. It considered the potential for irreparable harm to Du Pont's commercial interests if the injunction were not granted, weighed against the potential prejudice to Starwell if its operations were halted. The Court ultimately found that Du Pont had not satisfied the threshold for granting an interlocutory injunction, concluding that the evidence did not establish a sufficiently strong case of infringement at this interlocutory stage.