Motorola Solutions, Inc. v Hytera Communications Corporation Ltd (Defence Amendment) [2020] FCA 280

Motorola Solutions, Inc. v Hytera Communications Corporation Ltd (Defence Amendment) [2020] FCA 280

Although Hytera had a legitimate argument that non-infringing rewritten firmware could be relevant to the form of any injunction, permitting that issue into the existing proceeding would require Motorola to undertake substantial discovery and expert analysis and would inevitably adjourn the May 2020 trial, likely for about a year. Motorola's concessions removed any need to litigate the rewritten firmware issue for aggravated damages and the delay defence. Under s 37M, the prejudice to Motorola, the delay to determination of the existing patent and copyright claims, and the inefficient use of Court resources outweighed the prejudice to Hytera, which could raise non-infringement of...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
06 March 2020
Procedural Posture
Interlocutory Application for Leave to File and Serve a Fifth Further Amended Defence in Patent and Copyright Infringement Proceedings / Part Heard Trial; Application Under R 16.53 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (cth)
Outcome
Hytera's amendment application was refused with costs.
Legal Topics
['amendment of Pleadings' 'computer Program Copyright Infringement' 'rewritten Firmware' 'aggravated Damages' 'delay Defence' 'injunctive Relief' 'overarching Purpose Under S 37 M']
['practice and Procedure' 'intellectual Property' 'copyright' 'patents'] ['amendment of Pleadings' 'computer Program Copyright Infringement' 'rewritten Firmware' 'aggravated Damages' 'delay Defence' 'injunctive Relief' 'overarching Purpose Under S 37 M']

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Procedural Posture

Interlocutory Application for Leave to File and Serve a Fifth Further Amended Defence in Patent and Copyright Infringement Proceedings / Part Heard Trial; Application Under R 16.53 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (cth)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether Hytera should be granted leave to amend its defence to raise allegations concerning rewritten firmware.' 'Whether the alleged non-infringing character of the rewritten firmware was relevant to aggravated damages, the delay defence, and the scope of injunctive relief.' 'Whether permitting the amendments would require adjournment of the May 2020 hearing and whether refusal was required by the overarching purpose in s 37M of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth).']

Ratio Decidendi

Although Hytera had a legitimate argument that non-infringing rewritten firmware could be relevant to the form of any injunction, permitting that issue into the existing proceeding would require Motorola to undertake substantial discovery and expert analysis and would inevitably adjourn the May 2020 trial, likely for about a year. Motorola's concessions removed any need to litigate the rewritten firmware issue for aggravated damages and the delay defence. Under s 37M, the prejudice to Motorola, the delay to determination of the existing patent and copyright claims, and the inefficient use of Court resources outweighed the prejudice to Hytera, which could raise non-infringement of...

Court Disposition

Hytera's amendment application was refused with costs.

Orders

  • ['The parties bring in a minute of order to give effect to these reasons within 14 days.']