Verdict confirms that Hytera engaged in illegal trade secret theft and copyright infringement, validating Motorola Solutions’ global litigation against Hytera
Jury awards Motorola Solutions $764.6 million in compensatory and punitive damages, the maximum amount requested
CHICAGO – February 14, 2020 – Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI) today announced that a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has decided in favor of Motorola Solutions in its trade secret theft and copyright infringement case against Hytera Communications Corporation Limited (SHE: 002583) of Shenzhen, China; Hytera America, Inc.; and Hytera Communications America (West), Inc. (collectively, “Hytera”). In connection with this verdict, the jury awarded Motorola Solutions $345.8 million in compensatory damages and $418.8 million in punitive damages, for a total of $764.6 million. Significantly, Motorola Solutions was awarded the maximum amount it requested. Following this verdict, the company will seek a worldwide injunction preventing Hytera from further misappropriating Motorola Solutions’ stolen trade secrets and infringing its copyrights.
“Today’s verdict is a tremendous victory for our company,” said Greg Brown, chairman and CEO, Motorola Solutions. “Motorola Solutions has always invested significantly in research and development to bring pioneering and beneficial technology to our customers around the world. In contrast, Hytera was simply profiting off of the hard work and innovation of our world-class engineers. The jury’s verdict validates our global litigation against Hytera by definitively affirming that stealing trade secrets and source code will not be tolerated.”
“We are pleased that, as in other jurisdictions around the world, the jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found that Hytera intentionally violated the law by misappropriating and infringing Motorola Solutions’ intellectual property,” said Mark Hacker, general counsel and chief administrative officer, Motorola Solutions. “We remain committed to defending our valuable intellectual property and ensuring that Hytera is punished for its deceptive and illegal acts as we continue delivering exceptional products and solutions for our customers.”
As previously announced, the trade secret theft complaint, initially filed on March 14, 2017, asserted that Hytera’s two-way radios and repeaters are utilizing stolen Motorola Solutions trade secrets. The company amended its complaint on July 30, 2018, to include copyright infringement allegations, asserting that Hytera also unlawfully copied Motorola Solutions’ source code into the source code used in Hytera products in violation of U.S. copyright laws. The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Hytera stole over 10,000 Motorola Solutions confidential documents, millions of lines of Motorola Solutions’ highly confidential source code and took steps to conceal its theft to avoid detection. Remarkably, after steadfastly denying any wrongdoing in the years prior to trial, Hytera admitted during trial that in fact it has those thousands of Motorola Solutions confidential documents in its possession and that even today some of its products still contain stolen Motorola Solutions source code.
Today’s decision relates to claims that are separate from Motorola Solutions’ patent infringement case against Hytera, which is pending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and is expected to proceed to trial in late 2020 or early 2021. That case asserts that Hytera’s two-way radios, repeaters, and dispatch systems are infringing seven patents owned by Motorola Solutions, and that Hytera’s “redesigned” i-Series products are infringing at least four of those patents. These are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,591,111; 7,369,869; 7,729,701; 8,032,169; 8,116,284; 8,279,991; and 9,099,972. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) previously ruled that Hytera’s two-way radios and repeaters infringe four of those patents and issued exclusion orders prohibiting the importation and sale of certain Hytera products in the U.S. Hytera did not appeal the ITC’s ruling.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal counsel to Motorola Solutions.
For additional information regarding Motorola Solutions’ legal actions against Hytera, please visit https://newsroom.motorolasolutions.com/presskits/motorola-solutions-intellectual-property.htm.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains certain forward-looking statements including statements regarding expectations with respect to litigation filed by Motorola Solutions, Inc., and the outcomes possible if successful. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and depend on circumstances that will or may occur in the future and are outside the control of Motorola Solutions, Inc., and its officers. Actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements depending on a variety of factors including those discussed in this release.
