WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp.

ION Geophysical (defendant) manufactured components for a competing ocean-floor-surveying system in the United States and shipped them abroad, where foreign companies assembled them into a system indistinguishable from WesternGeco's (plaintiff) patented system. WesternGeco sued for infringement under 35 U.S.C. section 271(f), which covers exporting components for foreign assembly, and a jury awarded substantial lost-profits damages; ION argued the statute did not apply extraterritorially to reach foreign lost profits, and after conflicting appellate rulings the Supreme Court granted certiorari a second time.

Whether a patent owner may recover lost foreign profits when a defendant ships components of a patented invention overseas for assembly in violation of 35 U.S.C. section 271(f).