Contempt of Preliminary Injunction Not Appealable

Entergris v. Pall Corporation, [04-1440, 05-1265, 06-1374](June 13, 2007)[MOORE, Gajarsa, Linn] The Federal Circuit dismissed the appeal of sanctions awarded for violation of a preliminary injunction, and affirmed the dissolution of the preliminary injunction.
BRIEF: The Federal Circuit held that a contempt award for violating a preliminary injunction was not final judgment, and thus was not appealable.
Regarding the dissolution of the preliminary injunction, the Federal Circuit rejected Pall's argument that one reason the injunction was lifted was because it was no longer producing an infringing product. In language that would seem to mandate an injunction in every case (regardless of eBay v. Merchexchange) the Federal Circuit said "if a court was to dissolve a preliminary injunction solely on the ground that the defendant was no longer producing an infringing product, there would be no prohibition against the defendant reverting to production of the originally enjoined products." However, the Federal Circuit went on to say that if an alleged infringer "raises a 'substantial question' regarding invalidity, i.e., asserts an invalidity defense that the patentee cannot prove 'lacks substantial merit,' the preliminary injunction should not issue. Concluding that Pall had asserted an invalidity defense that Mykrolis has not proved lacks substantial merit, the Federal Circuit held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in dissolving the preliminary injunction.