Sue Prevezer QC Named to
The Legal 500 UK
Hall of Fame 2018
Sue Prevezer QC was named to the e Legal 500 UK Hall of Fame in two Dispute
Resolution categories: Banking Litigation and Commercial Litigation. e publication
named her as one of the top litigators in the UK based on consistent praise from her
clients for her work ethic and excellence. e Legal 500 Hall of Fame recognizes those
who have been at “the pinnacle of the profession,” only including individuals ranked as
elite leading lawyers in their respective elds for at least eight of the last ten years.
quinn emanuel
quinn emanuel urquhart & sullivan, llp | business litigation report
INSIDE
Supreme Court Holds Foreign
Corporations Cannot Be
Liable Under the Alien Tort
Statute
Page 4
Practice Area Updates:
Patent Litigation Update
Page 6
White Collar Litigation
Update
Page 7
Insurance Litigation Update
Page 9
ICSID Arbitration Victory: First
Award Rejecting Achmea on
Intra-EU BIT Case and Other
Victories
Page 10
Attorney Advertising
October 2018
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(continued on page 2)
U.S. Supreme Court Expands Rights of Patent Owners to Recover Lost Foreign
Prots
Background
On June 22, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court in
WesternGeco LLC v. Ion GeoPhysical Corp. determined
in a 7-2 ruling that patent owners are entitled to
their prots that were lost overseas under the general
patent infringement damages statute, 35 U.S.C. §
284, if they prove infringement under Section 271(f)
(2) of the Patent Act. Although its 10-page decision
was narrow, the courts expanded the rights of certain
patent owners.
Procedural Background
WesternGeco (“WesternGeco”) initiated a patent
infringement action under Sections 271(f)(1) and
(f)(2) of the Patent Act against ION Geophysical
Corporation (“ION”) in the Southern District
of Texas, asserting four patents related to lateral-
steering technology to survey the ocean oor. In its
suit, WesternGeco accused ION of manufacturing
components for a competing system in the United
States before shipping them to companies overseas to
be assembled. Notably, WesternGeco did not license
or sell its technology but rather used the technology
itself to perform surveys for its clients.
Section 271 of the Patent Act covers dierent
types of infringement within the United States.
For example, Section 271(a) states that “whoever
without authority, makes, uses, oers to sell, or sells
any patented invention, within the United States or
imports into the United States any patented invention
during the term of the patent therefore, infringes
the patent.” Section 271(f) is an exception to the
domestic geographic limitation on infringement and
provides that any party that supplies components “in
or from the United States” and either actively induces
(Section 271(f)(1)) or intends (Section 271(f )(2)) the
components to be combined outside the United States.
If infringement is proven, Section 284 is a remedial
provision of the Patent Act that authorizes “damages
adequate to compensate for the infringement, but
in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use
made of the invention by the infringer.”
Q
Leading Litigator Joins Los Angeles Ofce
Robert M. Schwartz has joined the rm as a partner in the Los Angeles oce.
Mr. Schwartz, who has been practicing for more than 30 years, is a nationally
recognized leader in large-stakes and often precedent-setting cases, particularly in the
entertainment and media elds. He has represented every major motion picture studio
and broadcast network, lm production companies, pay TV services, video game
developers, record companies, along with individual producers, writers, directors,
and actors. He has extensive experience and success in copyright, trademark, unfair
competition, royalties and participations, First Amendment, employment, and
complex business disputes. He has defended more than 75 class actions around the
country. Mr. Schwartz received his J.D. from University of Southern California Law
School, and his B.S. in Economics from University of California Los Angeles.
Q
