Orrick notches ITC win for Chinese companies amid US-China trade tensions

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has won for three Chinese LED display companies in a patent-infringement action at the United States International Trade Commission (ITC).

The San Francisco-headquartered firm acted for Shanghai Sansi Electronic Engineering (Sansi), CreateLED Electronics (CreateLED) and Yaham Optoelectronics (Yaham), which can continue their business activities in the US after Ultravision Technologies withdrew their complaint that triggered a section-337 investigation at the ITC.

In March 2018, Ultravision filed the complaint against the three companies, as well as other respondents, alleging infringement of patents on modular LED display panels and components.

Orrick said that it developed strong non-infringement and invalidity positions by working with their clients’ teams. “The complainant was forced to withdraw the complaint during the expert discovery period to terminate the investigation unconditionally,” the firm said.

Orrick tapped its international network to work on the matter. Its team was headed by partners Yufeng “Ethan” Ma (Shanghai), Vann Pearce (Washington, DC), Jordan Coyle (Washington, DC), and Bas de Blank (Silicon Valley).

The win is significant given trade tensions between the US and China, Ma said.

“Our clients have maintained all along that they clearly did not infringe Ultravision’s patents and the complaint was without merit,” he said. “It is an important win for Chinese LED manufacturers amidst the Sino-US trade tension, because China has become the largest manufacturing base for LED displays, a booming industry. Chinese companies, including our clients, will now be able to continue growing their businesses in the US.”