Milbank LLP secured a significant victory on behalf of China-headquartered Rosenberger Asia Pacific and related companies, which include the world’s third-largest manufacturer of base station antennas, in defense against a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit filed by competitor US-headquartered CommScope, Inc., the world’s second-largest manufacturer of base station antennas.
In August 2019, US Marshals came to Rosenberger New Jersey facilities and seized computers looking for allegedly misappropriated trade secrets after CommScope had successfully sought an ex-parte seizure order from the District of New Jersey federal court pursuant to the Defend Trade Secrets Act. Shortly after the seizure, the Milbank team appeared in the litigation. CommScope alleged that Rosenberger misappropriated trade secrets concerning the design of base station antennas, which are complex equipment that broadcast signals supporting wireless telecommunications.
After the ex-parte seizure, CommScope moved for a preliminary injunction to broadly enjoin Rosenberger from developing, marketing or selling base station antennas in the United States. Milbank attorneys conducted and defended dozens of depositions, and participated in other discovery proceedings, during a court-ordered period of expedited discovery. On April 20, 2021, the district court denied CommScope’s motion for a preliminary injunction, finding that CommScope had failed to demonstrate that it would suffer irreparable harm and that the base station antennas CommScope sought to enjoin were not substantially derived from the allegedly misappropriated trade secrets.
With Milbank’s global presence, including an office in China and Chinese-speaking US-based litigators, the firm was uniquely well-positioned to litigate this action, as many of the underlying facts occurred in and witnesses are based in China.
The Milbank team representing Rosenberger is led by Litigation & Arbitration partners David I. Gindler, the head of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation and Licensing Group, and Y. John Lu, and include Litigation & Arbitration partners Dan Perry, Gary Frischling, Christopher Gaspar and Lauren Drake, special counsel Kim Goldberg and Nate Browand, and associates Emile Ayoub, Sam Payne, Matthew Grier, Ben Nicholson, Bradley Hershon and Haley Ling.
