Two Courts, One Dispute: Parallel Proceedings, Anti-Suit Injunctions, and the Race to Judgment
By Casey Scott McKay ·
Intellectual property rights are national, and the products they cover are not, which means a single commercial dispute frequently becomes several lawsuits in several countries governed by several bodies of law that reach inconsistent results. This article explains what actually happens when that occurs: how each side races to a favourable forum, why the first-filed action is not necessarily the controlling one, when a United States court will enjoin a party from prosecuting a foreign case and when comity forbids it, and how the tools for gathering evidence across borders both help and expose the party using them. It covers the extraterritorial limits the Supreme Court has drawn around patent, trademark, and copyright law, the standard-essential patent cases in which courts on two continents have each claimed authority to set a worldwide rate, and the practical machinery of service, evidence, and recognition. The recurring lesson is that cross-border disputes are usually decided by forum and sequencing rather than by merits.
IP and Technology > Patent Litigation | Article | Published 17 February 2025 - Updated 29 August 2025 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. Intellectual property rights are national, and the products they cover are not, which means a single commercial dispute frequently becomes several lawsuits in several countries governed by several bodies of law that reach inconsistent results. This article explains what actually happens when that occurs: how each side races to a favourable forum, why the first-filed action is not necessarily the controlling one, when a United States court will enjoin a party from prosecuting a foreign case and when comity forbids it, and how the tools for gathering evidence across borders both help and expose the party using them. The recurring lesson is that cross-border disputes are usually decided by forum and sequencing rather than by merits.
Keywords: parallel proceedings · anti-suit injunction · cross-border litigation · forum shopping · section 1782 · Hague Evidence Convention · Hague Service Convention · extraterritoriality · comity · judgment recognition · torpedo actions · global FRAND rate setting · blocking statutes · personal jurisdiction abroad · Rule 4(k)(2)
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