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American Superconductor received USD$ 57.5 million settlement money in IP disputes

Release time:2018-07-16

AMSC instructed the Lifang & Partners IP team to raise proceedings against Sinovel for trade secret misappropriation in the Beijing IP Court. This was a complicated and highly technical case, that involved trade secret theft relating to the core control software source code used in wind turbines that generate renewable energy.

Other related litigations and arbitrations regarding intellectual property infringement and contractual disputes were also raised in the United States and Austria. As the companies involved are well-known listed companies, the damages claimed globally were significant. Moreover, because the disputes involved allegations of trade secret theft at a very sensitive time, they attracted much international public attention. 

As the core of all disputes between AMSC and Sinovel, the case in China went through jurisdictional objections, a first and second instance, a re-trial, and proceedings in the Beijing IP Court. At each stage, the case involved several complicated hearings related to evidence, cross-examination, technical comparisons and legal debates. These hearings required a large amount of evidence, technical documents and documents in foreign languages.

As Plaintiff, AMSC had a heavy burden of proof, and so, Lifang & Partners used all possible means to ingather evidence and have it notarized. Additionally, a successful application was made to have key pieces of evidence gathered through judicial preservation procedures.

A settlement was eventually reached between the two parties on 4th July 2018. As part of the settlement, Sinovel agreed to pay USD$ 57.5 million (around RMB 380 million) to AMSC.

Because Lifang & Partners was involved throughout the negotiations, they were able to better use the court proceedings as leverage to obtain a settlement on the best terms possible.

Lifang & Partners is always committed to helping its client resolve disputes and serves the best interests of clients by providing high-quality legal services.

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