What happens if a Chinese company is suddenly ordered by a US court that the whole world cannot sell its products? The company's revenue may plummet, tens of thousands of employees may lose their jobs, and the survival of the entire company will be seriously threatened.
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If the Chinese company later succeeded in getting rid of US sanctions, what would people at home and abroad think? Those who supported the company might feel that it was a victory for China, and those who opposed it might blame China even more arrogantly.
Recently, China's communications giant Hytera experienced such an incident. On April 2, Hytera was ordered by a U.S. court to ban sales worldwide. But just 15 days later, on April 17, the news of the lifting of the ban came to everyone's surprise. So, how did Hytera get out of the predicament in such a short period of time?
1. Why is Hytera targeted by U.S. courts?
Two years ago, a court in the United States ruled that Hytera had infringed Motorola's patent rights and fined a large sum of money, which was equivalent to one-eighth of Hytera's revenue that year, which shows how hard this fine is for Hytera.
Although Hytera later appealed in the United States, it was ultimately unsuccessful. But it doesn't end there. In June last year, Hytera sued Motorola in a domestic court, saying that its products did not infringe Motorola's patent rights.
The U.S. court was furious when it saw Hytera doing this. They felt that Hytera was ignoring their verdict and wanted to use the Chinese court's verdict to evade their punishment.
So, on April 2 this year, a U.S. court suddenly ordered that Hytera be banned from selling any product around the world, and that it would be fined $1 million every day until Hytera fully complimented their ban.
2. How did Hytera quickly "unbundle"?
In the face of such severe sanctions, many people in China are very angry. But the strange thing is that this ban was only implemented for 15 days, and Hytera successfully "unbundled".
So, how does Hytera do it?
First, Hytera voluntarily withdrew its lawsuit against Motorola in China. In this way, the U.S. court felt that Hytera was respecting their verdict and softened its attitude.
Second, Hytera appealed to a higher U.S. court. After receiving the global ban, Hytera did not give up, but quickly appealed to a higher court, expressing dissatisfaction with the original verdict.
Both actions were very decisive and positive. On the one hand, Hytera has shown good faith by withdrawing the domestic lawsuit, and on the other hand, it is also seeking a legal breakthrough in the hope that the Court of Appeal will lift the original global injunction.
Third, the change in the attitude of the US courts is a bit puzzling
However, judging from the process of Hytera's "unwrapping", the practice of the US court seems to be a bit capricious. At first, they imposed such a harsh ban on Hytera, but after only half a month, they changed their attitude, which made the outside world question a lot about their motives and purposes.
In fact, the US courts have done so to reflect their deep prejudice and distrust of China. Their ambivalence is mainly manifested in the following aspects:
They are so distrustful of the Chinese judiciary that even though Hytera has withdrawn the lawsuit, the U.S. court has emphasized that Hytera "shall not obey the judgments and orders of any Chinese court" when enforcing their judgments. This is enough to show their contempt for the rule of law in China.
The U.S. court did not know that Hytera had filed a lawsuit in China, but when it found out, it was very angry and issued a blanket injunction. This is obviously an attempt to control the course and trend of China-related affairs.
The U.S. court's high-profile injunction, but Hytera's quick concession was nothing more than an attempt to contain and suppress the development of Chinese companies in this way.
It can be seen that as the world's second largest economy, China is still an object of high vigilance and suspicion in the eyes of US courts. The way they behave us in a particular matter is really just a manifestation of their deep-seated bigotry and arrogance.
Fourth, this incident reflects that it is not easy for Chinese companies to develop overseas
The incident of Hytera being completely injunctioned by the US court this time actually reflects several important signals:
Chinese companies still face an unfair environment and rules overseas. As the world's second-largest economy, Chinese companies are still often treated unfairly and unreasonably in international affairs.
U.S. courts are deeply wary and biased against China. They may have prepared for a pervasive legal crackdown on Chinese companies' overseas expansion.