Guest post by Solomon B. Genet
Recently, on October 28, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Wreal, LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc. affirmed the time-honored principle of “you snooze, you lose.” In summary, a plaintiff believed that his trademark was being infringed upon, but waited 5 months after filing suit to seek a preliminary injunction. The 11th Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of that request, finding that the delay undermined any showing of irreparable injury.
Seemingly having fun with the decision, the 11th Circuit explained: “The district court denied the injunction because, among other reasons, the plaintiff pursued its preliminary injunction motion with the urgency of someone out on a meandering evening stroll rather than someone in a race against time.” A PDF of the opinion can be downloaded below.
Practice tip: don’t stroll but RUN to the court to seek an injunction. This is particularly important in trade-secret cases, where judges will be very skeptical of a plaintiff who knowingly delayed in pursing an injunction.