WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp.

Decided June 22, 2018. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 16-1011 · 585 U.S. 407 (2018) · Cited 94 times

Holding

The focus of the Patent Act’s general damages provision, 35 U. S. C. §284, in a case involving infringement under §271(f)(2) is on the act of exporting components from the United States; therefore, WesternGeco’s award for lost profits was a permissible domestic application of §284, not an extraterritorial one.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. · 561 U.S. 247 (2010)
• Deepsouth Packing Co. v. Laitram Corp. · 406 U.S. 518 (1972)
• Microsoft Corp. v. At&t Corp. · 550 U.S. 437 (2007)
• General Motors Corp. v. Devex Corp. · 461 U.S. 648 (1983)
• Aro Manufacturing Co. v. Convertible Top Replacement Co. · 377 U.S. 476 (1964)
• Pearson v. Callahan · 555 U.S. 223 (2009)
• Dowagiac Manufacturing Co. v. Minnesota Moline Plow Co. · 235 U.S. 641 (1915)
• Superintendent of Insurance of New York v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co. · 404 U.S. 6 (1971)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• Foley Bros., Inc. v. Filardo · 336 U.S. 281 (1949)
• Smith v. United States · 507 U.S. 197 (1993)
• Life Technologies Corp. v. Promega Corp. · 580 U.S. 140 (2017)
• Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. · 579 U.S. 93 (2016)
• RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Cmty. · 579 U.S. 325 (2016)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

Explore from here

Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2018). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).