The Seventh Circuit recently decided to uphold $1 million a day in sanctions against a manufacturing company for violating an order to drop trade secrets and copyright litigation in China. The manufacturer amassed $14 million in potential fines before the court stayed the sanctions after the company showed it had taken all steps to comply with the injunction. Leigh Martinson spoke with Law360 about the ruling and said that “The judge in Illinois did a nice job by making fines coercive to get [Hytera] to do what [the court wants] instead of punishing [Hytera]. [The court] used [its] power to put pressure to get done what needed to be done.” Leigh added, “The Seventh Circuit has the real liberal approach. [Hytera] might have had a different result in a different court. I do have some empathy for [Hytera] where I think they were trying to comply, but they couldn’t get enough evidence to support [their compliance] to convince the judge that’s what they’re doing.”
5.9.2024