No. 24-725

Hytera Communications Corporation Ltd. v. Motorola Solutions, Inc., et al.

Lower Court: Seventh Circuit
Docketed: 2025-01-10
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Amici (1)Response Waived
Tags: defend-trade-secrets-act economic-espionage-act extraterritorial-application presumption-against-extraterritoriality private-right-of-action trade-secret-misappropriation
Key Terms:
DueProcess Copyright TradeSecret Patent Trademark
Latest Conference: 2025-02-21
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does the private right of action for trade secret misappropriation created by the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 rebut the presumption against extraterritorial application of U.S. law?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

In 1996, Congress enacted the Economic Espionage Act, which created Chapter 90 of Title 18 and criminalized trade secret theft (18 U.S.C. § 1832). That Act expressly provides for extraterritorial application of “[t]his chapter” (i.e., Chapter 90) only if “an act in furtherance of the offense was committed in the United States.” Id. § 1837. In construing another Title 18 provision that applies to “offenses ,” this Court held that it applies “only to criminal charges” and not “also to civil claims.” Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter , 575 U.S. 650, 653 (2015). “Although the term [‘offense’] appears hundreds of times in Title 18,” not a single one of those instances “actually labels a civil wrong as an ‘offense.’” Id. The next year, Congress enacted the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) , which amends Chapter 90 of Title 18 to create the civil wrong of trade secret misappropriation and a private right of action for such misappropriation. 18 U.S.C. § 1836(b). Th e DTSA did not alter § 1837, which still grants extraterritorial reach only to “offense[s]” under Chapter 90. The question presented is: Does the private right of action for trade secret misappropriation created by the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 rebut the presumption against extraterritorial application of U.S. law ?

Docket Entries

2025-02-24
Petition DENIED.
2025-02-10
Amicus brief of Intellectual Property Academy of Chinese Enterprise, Shenzhen Software Industry Association, China Software Industry Association, and TCL CSOT submitted.
2025-02-10
Brief amici curiae of Intellectual Property Academy of Chinese Enterprise, et al. filed. (Distributed)
2025-01-22
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/21/2025.
2025-01-15
Waiver of Motorola Solutions, Inc., et al. of right to respond submitted.
2025-01-15
Waiver of right of respondent Motorola Solutions, Inc., et al. to respond filed.
2025-01-02
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 10, 2025)

Attorneys

Hytera Communications Corporation Ltd.
Mark Christopher SavignacSteptoe LLP, Petitioner
Intellectual Property Academy of Chinese Enterprise, Shenzhen Software Industry Association, China Software Industry Association, and TCL CSOT
Eugene VolokhSchaerr Jaffe LLP, Amicus
Motorola Solutions, Inc., et al.
John Caviness O'QuinnKirkland & Ellis LLP, Respondent