Preliminary injunctive relief is generally conditioned on the applicant giving security for costs and damages sustained by a party found to have been wrongfully enjoined.
Amount. Set in the court’s discretion, based on a reasonable estimate of the harm from an erroneous injunction. Applicants argue for a nominal bond; respondents should submit evidence of quantifiable harm — lost sales, carrying costs, delay damages — because courts cannot set a meaningful figure without it.
The bond as a cap. In many jurisdictions recovery for a wrongful injunction is limited to the bond amount, absent bad faith. That makes the amount the most consequential number in the proceeding and one that respondents frequently neglect to contest.
Wrongfully enjoined generally means the party had a right at all times to do what it was restrained from doing. A dissolution of the injunction on other grounds, or a settlement, may not establish that.
Procedure to recover. A motion in the same action, usually before the case concludes, against the surety and the applicant.
Waivers. Some statutes and some circumstances permit dispensing with a bond, including for indigent parties and for public interest litigants. That is an exception argued for, not assumed.
Practical note. A properly supported bond application often reduces the practical attractiveness of the injunction to the applicant.