Brief of Intellectual Property Law Scholars As Amici Curiae in Support of Neither Party, WesternGeco LLC v. Ion Geophysical Corp., No. 16-1011, US Supreme Court

32 Pages Posted: 5 Mar 2018 Last revised: 4 May 2018

See all articles by Timothy R. Holbrook

Timothy R. Holbrook

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Ann Bartow

Franklin Pierce Center for IP at UNH Law

Dan L. Burk

University of California, Irvine School of Law

Donald P. Harris

Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law

David C. Hricik

Mercer University - Walter F. George School of Law

Amy L. Landers

Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law

Yvette Joy Liebesman

Saint Louis University - School of Law

Lee Ann W. Lockridge

Louisiana State University Law Center

Jason Rantanen

University of Iowa - College of Law

Date Written: March 2, 2018

Abstract

This amici curiae brief was filed on behalf of Intellectual Property Law Scholars in WesternGeco LLC v. Ion Geophysical Corp. in the U.S. Supreme Court. The question presented is:

"Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit erred in holding that lost profits arising from prohibited combinations occurring outside of the United States are categorically unavailable in cases in which patent infringement is proven under 35 U.S.C. § 271(f)."

In RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community, 136 S. Ct. 2090 (2016), the Supreme Court articulated a two-step method for assessing the extraterritorial reach of a US statute:

1. A court should determine "whether the presumption against extraterritoriality has been rebutted—that is, whether the statute gives a clear, affirmative indication that it applies extraterritorially." If the presumption is rebutted, the statute may have extraterritorial reach.

2. But even if the presumption has not been rebutted, a court should look at the "focus" of the statute. "If the conduct relevant to the statute's focus occurred in the United States, then the case involves a permissible domestic application even if other conduct occurred abroad; but if the conduct relevant to the focus occurred in a foreign country, then the case involves an impermissible extraterritorial application regardless of any other conduct that occurred in U.S. territory."

The brief of amici curiae makes the follow points:

1. The Supreme Court has not squarely answered the question as to whether the presumption against extraterritoriality applies separately to remedial provisions of a statute generally (here whether it applies to § 284). We argue it does.

2. We argue that the territorial reach § 284 necessarily depends the relevant provision of § 271 used to find liability. Here, under § 271(f), the presumption is rebutted (though it would not be generally for a case under § 271(a), with NTP v. Research in Motion may be a counter-example when one looks at the "focus" at step 2)).

3. We also argue that the Court should offer more guidance as to what happens even if the RJR test is satisfied. RJR Nabisco seems to operate in binary fashion -- either the statute has extraterritorial reach or it doesn't. But Microsoft Corp. v. AT&T Corp., and earlier Supreme Court decision also interpreting 35 U.S.C. § 271(f), suggests that the presumption may still have a role in interpreting a statute. We offer two suggestions on how the presumption should operate in this context. First, courts should seriously and formally consider issues of comity and potential conflicts with foreign law in assessing whether to apply U.S. law extraterritorially. Second, that territoriality should remain relevant in assessments of proximate cause.

Keywords: westerngeco, rjr nabisco, kiobel, morrison, microsoft v. at&t, extraterritoriality, presumption against extraterritoriality, extraterritorial, patent, westerngeco, ion geophysical, territoriality, supreme court

Suggested Citation

Holbrook, Timothy Richard and Bartow, Ann and Burk, Dan L. and Harris, Donald Patrick and Hricik, David C. and Landers, Amy L. and Liebesman, Yvette Joy and Lockridge, Lee Ann W. and Rantanen, Jason, Brief of Intellectual Property Law Scholars As Amici Curiae in Support of Neither Party, WesternGeco LLC v. Ion Geophysical Corp., No. 16-1011, US Supreme Court (March 2, 2018). Emory Legal Studies Research Paper , Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-12, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3133293 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3133293

Timothy Richard Holbrook (Contact Author)

University of Denver Sturm College of Law ( email )

2255 E. Evans Avenue
Denver, CO 80210
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.du.edu/about/people/tim-holbrook

Ann Bartow

Franklin Pierce Center for IP at UNH Law ( email )

Two White Street
Concord, NH 03301
United States

Dan L. Burk

University of California, Irvine School of Law ( email )

4500 Berkeley Place
Irvine, CA 92697-1000
United States
949-824-9325 (Phone)

Donald Patrick Harris

Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law ( email )

1719 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122

David C. Hricik

Mercer University - Walter F. George School of Law ( email )

1021 Georgia Ave
Macon, GA 31207-0001
United States

Amy L. Landers

Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law ( email )

3320 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

Yvette Joy Liebesman

Saint Louis University - School of Law ( email )

100 N. Tucker Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63101
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.slu.edu/law/faculty/yvette-liebesman.php

Lee Ann W. Lockridge

Louisiana State University Law Center ( email )

440 Law Center Building
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
United States

Jason Rantanen

University of Iowa - College of Law ( email )

Melrose and Byington
Iowa City, IA 52242
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
141
Abstract Views
1,977
Rank
369,138
PlumX Metrics