In today’s global economy, manufacturing and distribution chains typically are spread across multiple countries. A product now passes through several (and sometimes related) companies as it is sold and resold overseas before possibly being imported back into the United States. This dynamic and complex relationship from the incarnation of product to eventual world-wide sale often creates tension with U.S. laws that regulate domestic conduct.
Intellectual property laws, which are central to innovation, product development and protection, are no stranger to this tension. IP owners naturally want to assert their rights to exclude others, and when necessary, identify potential liability and maximize damages relating to foreign activity. But accused infringers try to resist this “reach” to ensure a U.S. IP-acquired right does not surreptitiously become world-wide protection, especially when no equivalent foreign protection exists, or it is weakly enforced. Recent U.S. cases have created benchmarks of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret liability for foreign activity, and businesses should take heed.
