China: Supreme People’s Court Decides in Favor of AMSC

AMSC yesterday announced that China’s Supreme People’s Court has decided in favor of AMSC on the jurisdiction of the company’s two software copyright infringement cases against Sinovel Wind Group, Ltd. (Sinovel) and Guotong Electric (Guotong).

The Supreme People’s Court ruled that the cases will be heard as copyright infringement cases separate from the commercial arbitration claims. The cases will be heard independently in their respective court systems.

These are two of the four legal cases that AMSC brought against Sinovel in late 2011 regarding Sinovel’s contractual breaches and AMSC’s discovery of intellectual property theft by Sinovel. AMSC is also engaged in a commercial arbitration case and a trade secrets case against Sinovel in China.

In September 2011, AMSC filed a civil action with the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court that alleges Sinovel’s unauthorized copying and use of portions of AMSC’s wind turbine control software developed for Sinovel’s 1.5 MW wind turbines and the binary code, or upper layer, of AMSC’s software for its PM3000 power converters. In this case, AMSC is seeking a cease and desist order and damages totaling US$6 million.

In November 2011, Sinovel filed a motion to remove this case from the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court and transfer the matter to the Beijing Arbitration Commission. The court denied Sinovel’s motion to remove the case. Sinovel filed an appeal of that decision to the Beijing Higher People’s Court, and the Beijing Higher People’s Court supported the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court’s ruling and rejected Sinovel’s appeal. Sinovel then filed an appeal of that decision with China’s Supreme People’s Court. The Supreme People’s Court has ruled to uphold the Beijing Higher People’s Court ruling that the dispute shall be heard by the court. AMSC will now await a hearing date from the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court.

In September 2011, AMSC also filed a copyright case against Sinovel and Guotong Electric with the Hainan  No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court. In this case, AMSC is seeking a cease and desist order as well as damages totaling approximately US$200,000, making this the smallest of AMSC’s legal actions against Sinovel. In this case, Sinovel filed a jurisdiction opposition motion in December 2011 requesting that the Hainan No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court dismiss AMSC’s case against Sinovel, saying the case should be governed by the Beijing Arbitration Commission pursuant to the terms of component contracts between AMSC and Sinovel.

Not only did the court grant Sinovel’s motion, but also it dismissed the cases against both Sinovel and Guotong. AMSC appealed the dismissal to the Hainan Higher People’s Court, which on April 5, 2012 upheld the decision of the Hainan No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court. AMSC then filed an appeal of that decision with China’s Supreme People’s Court. The Supreme People’s Court overturned the previous two rulings made by the Hainan No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court and Hainan Higher People’s Court and has ruled that the case will be heard by the court. AMSC will now await a hearing date from Hainan No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court.

Press release, February 20, 2014; Image: rivertoncity