Can The ITC Police Foreign Trade Secret Violations?

The Supreme Court has been asked by a Chinese company to take a case that will test the jurisdiction of the U.S. International Trade Commission in matters where a complainant alleges that trade secret misappropriation has occurred entirely in a foreign country. The case pits the Chinese company Sino Legend – the largest rubber and tire resin manufacturer in Asia, according to its website – against SI Group, Inc., a more than 100-year-old family-owned chemical company based in upstate New York. The New York company contends that Sino Legend infringed on its trade secrets, a claim that was rejected in Chinese courts, but accepted by the ITC in a decision that was affirmed by the Federal Circuit. Now, in Sino Legend v. ITC, Sino Legend wants to challenge the ITC’s jurisdiction in such matters, and it has petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari. If it prevails, according to a post from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, things will get more complicated for American companies dealing with alleged misappropriation of trade secrets abroad.