WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp.

138 S. Ct. 2129 (2018)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
W
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp.

United States Supreme Court
138 S. Ct. 2129 (2018)

EC

Facts

WesternGeco LLC (plaintiff) owned several patents relating to a system that it developed for surveying the ocean floor. ION Geophysical Corp. (ION) (defendant) began selling a competing system. ION manufactured the components for its system in the United States and then shipped the components to companies abroad. Those companies combined the components to create a system that was indistinguishable from WesternGeco’s. WesternGeco sued for patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(f). The jury found ION liable and awarded WesternGeco a large sum in lost profits. ION filed a post-trial motion to set aside the verdict. ION argued that WesternGeco could not recover damages for lost profits because § 271(f) did not apply extraterritorially. The trial court denied ION’s motion. ION appealed. The appeals court reversed the award of lost-profits damage. The Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated the appeals court’s judgment, and remanded the case. On remand, the appeals court reinstated the portion of its decision degrading the extraterritoriality of § 271(f). The Supreme Court again granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Thomas, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Intellectual Property
Patent

Key Terms