February.01.2018
China Business Law Journal recognized Orrick with three 2017 Deal of the Year awards in its January 2018 issue.
Disputes and Investigations Deal of the Year:
Shenzhen Howshow Technology successfully defends against patent infringement claims at the ITC
Orrick successfully defended Howshow against Kent Displays (KDI) in a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) section 337 investigation involving the alleged infringement of patents relating to liquid crystal e-writers and components. KDI eventually withdrew its complaint unconditionally against Howshow, and the Chinese company ended the investigation without making any payment or concessions to KDI.
This case is important because KDI was originally in a settlement negotiation with Howshow but was later forced to withdraw its complaint unconditionally, enabling Howshow to sell its products in any market worldwide with no constraints. This result is extremely rare at the ITC, and it is believed to be the first result of its kind for a Chinese respondent.
The Orrick team was led by Shanghai partner Yufeng (Ethan) Ma and Washington, D.C. partners Jordan Coyle, Sten Jensen and Vann Pearce.
Overseas Deals of the Year:
China Hongqiao’s Indonesia alumina refinery development and financing
Orrick advised China Hongqiao Group Limited, PT Cita Mineral Investindo Tbk and Winning International Group Pte Ltd, as sponsors, in the development, construction and financing of an alumina refinery with a capacity of one million metric tons per year, including a captive thermal power plant and associated facilities in Indonesia.
This is the first big Chinese-invested alumina refinery development and financing in Indonesia, and a complex project with some unique features. The limited recourse financing of alumina refining involved a high volume of work in customizing various product and offtake agreements, construction support agreements and sponsor support arrangements in order to address issues such as risk mitigation and alumina pricing, which are rare to see in the market for similar projects without relevant precedents to follow.
The Orrick team was led by Hong Kong-based senior counsel Peter Cleary and Tokyo-based senior associate Jae-Hyon Ahn.
CNMC’s investment in African copper mine
We advised Gécamines in the negotiation of innovative mining project agreements and related agreements regarding the joint-development of the Deziwa, a major copper-cobalt deposit in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Phase 1 of this project includes the construction of a copper processing facility with an initial capacity of 80,000 tons of copper per annum to be funded by CNMC. Phase 2 will provide for a capacity extension of the processing facility up to 200,000 tons of copper per annum.
This transaction was structured as a BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer), which is unusual for a consumable asset, especially in mining.
You can see the full list of winners here.