circumstances of the case, to delay giving an injunction for the defendant to close down his infringing operations or to refuse giving an injunction at all. In some cases, an injunction would prevent worthy innovators from entering the market. The Canadian Patent Act specifies: In Canadian patent law, the courts favour refusing an injunction for infringement, particularly where the patent holder would be fairly compensated through a monetary compensation award. Courts in the United States have been critical of "patent trolls", who purchase unexploited patents for the purposes of imposing licensing fees onto a trade, stating that awarding an injunction would hand over "a club to be wielded by a patentee to enhance his negotiating stance". Interlocutory injunctions, which prevent the defendant from engaging in the allegedly infringing activity during the court proceedings, used to be de rigueur in intellectual property cases. However, they have more recently become rare, particularly as they are very rarely granted. In order to show that in interlocutory injunction is justified, a plaintiff must show: a serious question to be tried; injury that cannot be adequately compensated in monetary damages if the injunction is not granted ("irreparable harm"); a balance of convenience favours granting an interlocutory injunction In the case of patent law, an interlocutory injunction would seriously inhibit the ability of an alleged infringer from developing a new invention, even if their activity did not infringe the original patent's claims. Damages Damages in patent law track those of the law of tort. The claimant should receive compensation that would restore it to the position it would have occupied should the patent infringement have never occurred. Some of the measures used to in considering a fair compensation for infringement include lost sales, a reasonable royalty, intangible losses, proportioning damages compared to what was infringed, whether the patent was infringed knowingly, and punitive damages. Accounting of profits Canadian patent law also provides an accounting of profits made by the defendant infringer as a remedy. An accounting of profits is an equitable remedy entirely based on the idea that the defendant did not have the right to benefit from the property of the plaintiff patent holder. While considerations such as intent may have a role in damage awards, they do not in an accounting of profits. Profits are calculated using a direct cost accounting method. The infringer is liable for the net profits realized as a result