The Regional Court of Munich has referred a question to the CJEU (case C-44/21) in relation to the Enforcement Directive (Article 9(1) of Directive 2004/48/EC) and whether the standard applied for the grant of preliminary injunctions is too high. Under German law, and with certain exceptions only, the EPO or German Courts must have held that the patent in question valid in order for a preliminary injunction to be granted. The UK IPO has requested any comments on the reference by 24 March 2021.
The answer to this question could have a significant impact on the availability of preliminary injunctive relief in Germany.