“最高人民法院经审理认为，本案是一起有组织、有计划地以不正当手段大规模挖取新能源汽车技术人才及技术资源引发的侵害技术秘密案件。”在同日由最高人民法院知识产权法庭公众号发布、一篇题为“新能源汽车技术秘密第一大案终审落槌，判赔数额创新高、停止侵害出新招”的文章称，该案原告索赔额高达21亿元，最高人民法院二审适用2倍惩罚性赔偿判决侵权人赔偿经济损失及维权合理开支合计约6.4亿余元，创我国知识产权侵权诉讼判赔数额历史新高。On June 14, the Public Account of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court released the "(2023) Supreme Court Civil Ruling No. 1590 on the Civil Judgment of New Energy Auto Chassis Technology Trade Secret Infringement". The plaintiff, Geely, won the case, and WM Motor lost the case and needs to compensate more than 640 million yuan. In 2018, Geely sued WM Motor to court on the grounds of infringement of Geely's technology secrets and proposed a "sky-high" compensation of 2.1 billion yuan.
After six years and two trials, the final judgment was made on the first domestic technical secret dispute of the automotive industry.
On the evening of June 14th, the Supreme People's Court Intellectual Property Tribunal released the "(2023) Supreme Court Knowledge Citizens Final Number 1590 New Energy Vehicle Chassis Technology Secret Infringement Case Civil Judgment", which showed that the plaintiff Geely won the case and WM Motor lost. It needs to compensate Geely for more than 640 million yuan.
"The Supreme People's Court believes that the case is a technical secret case that infringes on technology secrets organized and planned in a large scale to obtain new energy electric vehicle technology talents and technical resources by improper means." An article titled "The First Largest Case of New Energy Vehicle Technology Secrets Goes to the Final Verdict, the Amount of Compensation Reaches a New High, and New Measures to Stop Infringement" published by the Supreme People's Court Intellectual Property Tribunal on the same day states that the plaintiff's claim amount is as high as 2.1 billion yuan. The second-instance judgment of the Supreme People's Court applies punitive damages of 2 times, and the ruling is that the infringer should compensate the economic losses and reasonable expenses for 640 million yuan, creating a new high in the history of China's intellectual property infringement litigation awards.
The 99-page, about 57,000-word judgment details the process of WM Motor's infringement of Geely's technical secrets and the trial determination process.
According to the judgment, the Supreme Court analyzed and determined that nearly 40 senior management and technical staff of Chengdu Gaoyuan Company (i.e. affiliated company of Geely Group) left their jobs one after another before and after July 2016, and joined WM Motor and its affiliated companies, engaged in relevant work including R&D of new energy electric vehicle chassis technology. The Supreme Court also analyzed and determined that WM Motor obviously had the channel and opportunity to contact the technical secrets involved by Geely, illegally obtained and used all the technical secrets involved in the case, and partially disclosed the technical secrets involved in the case. The evidence provided by WM Motor is insufficient to refute the fact that all the technical secrets involved in the case constitute infringement. WM EX series electric vehicles (including EX5, EX6, and E5) all infringe on Geely's technical secrets involved in the case.
"In conclusion, based on the existing evidence in the case, it can be determined that WM Motor not only illegally obtained all technical secrets involved in Geely by improper means, but also illegally disclosed part of the technical secrets involved in the case by applying for patents, and used all technical secrets involved in the case to manufacture WM EX series electric vehicle chassis and parts. WM Motor's behavior has constituted an infringement of the technical secrets involved by Geely. The appeals raised by Geely are supported by this court."
In December 2018, Geely sued WM Motor for infringing on Geely's technical secrets, and proposed a "sky-high" compensation of 2.1 billion yuan. At that time, an internal source of Geely told Cailian Press reporter that "the proposed compensation of 2.1 billion yuan is justified," but did not elaborate on the content of its basis.
"The biggest highlight of this case is Geely's claim amount. At present, there is no (compensation) amount as high as this in China." At that time, lawyer Xiong Chao of Beijing Law Firm believed that if the court finally sentenced according to the 2.1 billion yuan target, it would be a milestone for China's judicial industry. "The significance of this milestone lies in being able to fully demonstrate the market value and economic value of intellectual property."
On September 17, 2019, the largest commercial dispute case in China's intellectual property industry went to trial in the Second Court of Shanghai Higher People's Court. In September 2022, Shanghai High Court made a first-instance judgment: WM Motor needs to compensate Geely for 7 million yuan, including 5 million yuan in economic losses and 2 million yuan in various expenses to stop infringement. In addition, the first-instance judgment confirmed that WM Motor had infringed on Geely's technical secrets of 5 drawings involved in the case.
After the first-instance judgment, both parties appealed to the Supreme People's Court against the first-instance judgment.
The final trial judgment of the Supreme Court disclosed the basis of Geely's proposed compensation of 2.1 billion yuan. The judgment showed: when Geely filed a lawsuit, it was proposed that WM Motor had obtained 52.6 billion yuan in financing, and calculated that WM Motor saved R&D costs by 4% based on the proportion of R&D costs, and made a profit of about 2.1 billion yuan by infringing on the technical secrets involved.
In the second trial, based on the facts of WM Motor's infringement, the Supreme People's Court calculated the punitive damages and final compensation amount, and finally determined that WM Motor should compensate Geely for economic losses of 637,596,249.6 yuan. In addition, the Supreme Court determined that Geely has paid reasonable expenses of 5,000,000 yuan to stop infringement. The two items add up, and WM Motor was finally sentenced to compensate approximately 643 million yuan.
"In this judgment, pioneering exploration has been made in the specific ways, contents, scope, and delay performance interest payment standards of civil liability for stopping infringement of technical secrets, and the deferred performance interest payment and other non-monetary payment obligations". The aforementioned article titled "The First Largest Case of New Energy Vehicle Technology Secrets Goes to the Final Verdict, the Amount of Compensation Reaches a New High, and New Measures to Stop Infringement" stated.
In the opinion of industry insiders, the final verdict of this technical secret dispute, which is the "largest compensation amount in China's intellectual property infringement litigation", has long-term significance for promoting the protection of China's intellectual property rights and the healthy and sustainable development of the automotive industry, but also makes the future of WM Motor, which is in bankruptcy reorganization, more uncertain.