North American Windpower: Chinese Court Expected To Hold Additional Hearing On AMSC-Sinovel Case

by NAW Staff on Tuesday 18 December 2012

AMSC says it expects China's Supreme People's Court to hold an additional hearing regarding AMSC's case against Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. regarding alleged copyright infringement. The date for this hearing has yet to be determined.

Among AMSC's cases against Sinovel is a civil action for alleged software copyright infringement that was filed with the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. The case alleges Sinovel's unauthorized copying and use of portions of AMSC's wind turbine control software developed for Sinovel's 1.5 MW wind turbines and the binary code, or upper layer, of AMSC's software for its PM3000 power converters. In this case, AMSC is seeking a cease-and-desist order and damages totaling $6 million.

In November 2011, Sinovel filed a motion to remove this case from the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court and transfer the matter to the Beijing Arbitration Commission. The court denied Sinovel's motion to remove the case. Sinovel filed an appeal of that decision to the Beijing Higher People's Court, and the Beijing Higher People's Court supported the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court's ruling and rejected Sinovel's appeal.

Sinovel then filed an appeal of that decision with China's Supreme People's Court. A hearing regarding this appeal was held at the Chinese Supreme People's Court on Oct. 26. The Supreme People's Court has now ruled that it will hold a hearing to review the jurisdictional matter and that the lower-court proceedings shall be stayed pending the Supreme Court outcome, according to AMSC.

This is one of four legal cases that AMSC brought against Sinovel in late 2011 regarding what AMSC claims are Sinovel's contractual breaches and intellectual-property theft.

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