The World in U.S. Courts:
Spring 2013

Decisions Discussed in This Issue

Please click the links below to read a summary of the decision described. Copies of any case discussed in this issue are available upon request.

Please note that Orrick may be representing parties in the cases discussed below. Nothing in the informal summaries contained in this publication should be taken as commenting on the merits of cases, or as binding constructions of court opinions that are discussed.

Alien Tort Statute (ATS)

U.S. Supreme Court Holds that a Foreign Corporation Cannot Be Sued in U.S. Courts for Strictly Foreign Conduct under the Alien Tort Statute

Antitrust/Competition

Antitrust Claim by Terminated Distributor That Sold Manufacturer’s Products in Argentina Fails To Allege Required Effect on U.S. Market, Despite Some Allegedly Unlawful Conduct in the U.S.

Court Dismisses U.S. Antitrust Claims for Failure to Allege Underlying Contracts Were Negotiated or Entered into in the U.S.

Intellectual Property (Trademark)

Plaintiff’s Failure to Demonstrate a Lack of Conflict Between Foreign and U.S. Trademark Laws Dooms Extraterritorial Injunction

No Jurisdiction for Trademark Infringement Where Defendant Did No Business in U.S.

U.S. Retailer Cannot Block Hong Kong Site’s Counterfeit Products

Intellectual Property (Copyright)

U.S. Copyrighted Works May Be Resold Anywhere After “First Sale” Outside the U.S.

U.S. Acts of Copyright Infringement Can Serve As Predicate Basis for Jurisdiction Over Third Party Contributory Infringement Outside the U.S.

Intellectual Property (Patent)

Foreign Sales Cannot Be Considered in Damages Award for Patent Infringement Even If the Sales Are a Foreseeable Result of Domestic Infringement

Foreign Defendant’s Accessing of Infringing Software Stored on U.S. Server Can Form Basis for Jurisdiction

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)

RICO Applies to Extraterritorial Conduct That Is Part of a Pattern of Racketeering Activity That Geographically Includes the U.S.

Even If Price Manipulation Occurs Abroad, Sufficient U.S. Connection for Commodity Exchange Act Claim If Commodity Traded on U.S. Exchange; Court Finds “Nerve Center” Test Inappropriate Where Decisions Made in Multiple Countries--Instead Examines Where Collective Action Occurred

District Court Applies “Nerve Center Test” at Bench Trial and Dismisses Civil RICO Claim

Merely Laundering Money in U.S. Is Not Sufficient U.S. Conduct to Sustain a Civil RICO Claim

Securities

District Courts Extend the Presumption Against Extraterritoriality to the Commodity Exchange Act and, Applying the Transaction Test, Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Claims

Motion to Dismiss Securities Claim Denied Where Transactions Deemed “Domestic”

For Foreign Stock Sales to Foreign Investors, a Domestic Escrow Agent Is Insufficient to Establish a Domestic Transaction Even If the Bulk of the Fraudulent Activity Occurred in the U.S.

District Court Extends Settled Securities Fraud Law to Claim for Failure of Broker/Dealer to Register Claim and Dismisses It

Mere Clearance of a Foreign Stock by a Domestic Clearing Broker Does Not Constitute a Domestic Transaction

Securities Fraud Claims In Multiple Actions Dismissed Under Morrison Because Securities Transactions Were Deemed To Constitute Foreign Transactions

Securities Fraud Class Could Not Include Investors Who Purchased the Defendant Company’s Stock Outside of the U.S.

White Collar

Conviction for Conduct on the High Seas Affirmed Even Though There Was No Connection to the U.S.

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U.S. Laws Discussed in This Issue

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