Q & A

1. What was announced? What were the damages?

• We announced that we won our trade secret theft and copyright infringement cases against Hytera in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

• This is an important victory because it means that yet another jurisdiction has confirmed that Hytera illegally stole Motorola Solutions’ trade secrets and copied our source code. 

• In connection with these verdicts, the jury awarded Motorola Solutions $345.8 million in compensatory damages and $418.8 million punitive damages, or a total of $764.6 million. Significantly, Motorola Solutions was awarded the maximum amount requested.

• Additionally, following this verdict, we will seek a worldwide injunction preventing Hytera from further misappropriating Motorola Solutions’ stolen trade secrets and infringing its copyrights.

2. What were the jury’s findings?

• The jury found that Hytera’s two-way radios and repeaters are utilizing stolen Motorola Solutions trade secrets.

• Similarly, the jury found that Hytera unlawfully copied Motorola Solutions’ source code into the source code used in Hytera products.  

• Further, the jury found that Hytera’s misappropriation of Motorola Solutions’ trade secrets was willful and malicious and awarded punitive damages.
  

3. Why is the trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement case separate from the patent infringement case in the same court? Why aren’t these all being litigated together?

• The cases are separate because they concern different legal claims.
  
  
  • The trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement case pertained to Hytera’s misappropriation of Motorola Solutions’ trade secrets and unlawful copying of Motorola Solutions’ source code.
    
    
  • The patent infringement case, 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, is focused on Hytera’s infringement of seven specific Motorola Solutions’ patents.
    

4. How does this ruling impact Hytera and Hytera customers?

• We believe this verdict, particularly the fact that Hytera admitted during the trial that its products still contain Motorola Solutions source code, should be of serious concern to Hytera’s distributors, resellers and, most of all, its customers.
  

5. Can you outline the legal actions taken against Hytera to date? Why are you pursuing litigation in so many jurisdictions?

• Hytera is brazenly infringing Motorola Solutions’ patents in various jurisdictions around the globe, creating an unlevel playing field, so we filed complaints with the appropriate Courts and agencies. Specifically:
  
  
  • U.S. Federal District Courts: The lawsuit asserts that Hytera’s two-way radios, repeaters and dispatch systems infringe a total of seven patents owned by Motorola Solutions. Notably, Motorola Solutions’ complaint asserts that Hytera’s “redesigned” i-Series products are infringing four of those patents.
    
    
  • U.S. ITC: The ITC provided a compelling venue to investigate Hytera's unlawful conduct, as it has the authority to issue an exclusion order to halt the importation of the infringing products, as well as a cease-and-desist order to stop the marketing and sale of the infringing devices in the U.S. In January 2019, the ITC issued an importation ban and cease-and-desist orders that prevent Hytera from using three Motorola Solutions’ patents in its U.S. products: U.S. Patent Nos. 7,369,869; 7,729,701; and 8,279,991.
    
    
  • Regional Courts in Germany: Those complaints were specifically about preventing Hytera from offering and delivering products in Germany with the combination of TDMA Direct Mode and pseudo-trunking features, and/or the squelch functionality that Motorola Solutions invented. We prevailed against Hytera in both of these cases. While Hytera has appealed the German courts’ judgments, we are confident both decisions will be upheld.
    
    
  • Federal Court of Australia: The patent and copyright infringement proceedings assert that certain Hytera digital mobile radios offered in Australia infringe three of Motorola Solutions’ Australian patents and Motorola Solutions’ copyright in its software programs related to the digital mobile radios. These are scheduled to go to trial in 2020.
    
• Overall, these complaints demonstrate our commitment to vigorously defending our valuable intellectual property as we continue to drive innovation for our customers around the globe.