Supreme Court patent case has major implications for international relations | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Supreme Court patent case has major implications for international relations Supreme Court patent case has major implications for international relations Published: April 13, 2018 Author: Shannon Roddel Stephen Yelderman The Supreme Court of the United States hears arguments Monday (April 16) in a patent case that one University of Notre Dame law professor says has major implications for international relations, pitting the U.S. interest in rewarding patent owners for their inventions against the sovereignty of other nations.    At issue in WesternGeco v. ION Geophysical is whether a U.S. patent owner can recover damages for business losses it suffered abroad as a direct result of patent infringement that occurred in the United Sates.   Stephen Yelderman, associate professor at the Notre Dame Law School who specializes in intellectual property, patent law and copyrights, filed an amicus brief in the case, and says the legal question before the court can be reduced to a simple hypothetical.   “Suppose a defendant manufactures infringing products in Texas, but sells them in Mexico,” he says. “Can the patent plaintiff recover for lost sales of that product in the Mexican market? The court of appeals and the defendant in this case say the answer is no. Citing the sovereignty interest of foreign nations, ION says that U.S. patent law only compensates for harms that are suffered in the United States. So if a defendant manufactures its infringing products in Texas but sells them worldwide, the patent owner could recover only for the portion of lost sales in the United States.   “To rule otherwise, the defendant argues, would risk turning the U.S. into a worldwide patent system, thereby interfering with the rights of other nations to style patent protection as they see fit.”    WesternGeco and Yelderman disagree.   “There is an extremely long history of U.S. courts looking to foreign consequences of domestic actions for purposes of assessing damages,” he says. “The Court of Appeals’ rule places artificial blinders on judges when fashioning remedies and could leave some patent owners with effectively no remedy at all. Taking notice of foreign consequences would not turn the U.S. into a ‘worldwide patent system,’ because the patent holder would still have to show some act of domestic infringement as a predicate to damages for any foreign harms. Courts have been including foreign harm in damages for approximately 150 years and the sky hasn’t fallen.”     Yelderman previously served in the telecommunication and media section of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, where he investigated and litigated a variety of cases in the cable and wireless industries. He also worked as a patent agent in Silicon Valley, representing inventors from Google, Apple, Cisco and Honda’s humanoid robotics laboratory before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.     Contact: Stephen Yelderman, 574-631-2264, Stephen.yelderman@nd.edu Posted In: University News Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 03, 2022 Congresswoman Liz Cheney to speak at Notre Dame on the future of democracy September 22, 2022 In memoriam: Rev. Richard Warner, C.S.C., longtime leader for Notre Dame, Congregation of Holy Cross September 22, 2022 ND Forum keynote event to feature Emmy Award-winning actors in Theater of War Productions’ presentation of ‘The Suppliants’ in Notre Dame Stadium September 21, 2022 In annual address to faculty, Father Jenkins outlines campus-wide vision for elevating excellence September 15, 2022 Lilly Endowment Inc. grant helps to expand Notre Dame pre-college programs for Hoosier high school students For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn