The decision by crane manufacturer Manitowoc to pursue a patent infringement case against a competitor, Chinese manufacturer Sany, looks to have resulted in a victory for the American-based company, with an initial favourable determination from the United States International Trade Commission (ITC).
The complaint, filed in June 2013, related to Manitowc’s variable position counterweight technology (VPC) used on three of its crawler cranes, though two of the models were launched only earlier this year. The VPC moves the position of the counterweight when the crane is under load. This means that a smaller counterweight can be used, resulting in a faster set-up time, smaller site footprint, and less counterweight to transport.
First launched on its large-size 31000 crawler crane in 2011, Manitowoc claimed that Sany had copied the technology and used it on a crawler crane (the SCC8500) it began selling in the United States. Manitowoc also claimed that Sany recruited one of the main engineers involved in the development of the VPC, John Lanning, for the purpose of stealing trade secrets. 
With the arrival of Sany’s SCC8500, Manitowoc said that in addition to patent infringement and theft of trade secrets, its vital ‘first to market’ status was lost in the VPC segment, especially important due to the “revolutionary nature” of the technology, saying “[Sany is] likely to capture a substantial portion of the market share that rightfully belongs to Manitowoc Cranes”.
Advantages of ‘first to market’ with the transformable VPC were to have been early sales in the technology’s commercial cycle and reaching new customers while it was the only seller with the product in the market, while the impact of the SCC8500 will be price erosion for Manitowoc when it brings its new cranes to market.
The judge determined that Manitowoc demonstrated that “certain accused products infringe claims of the ‘928 patent,” and that Sany engaged in the “misappropriation of certain asserted trade secrets” owned by Manitowoc.
Manitowoc says it’s pleased with the result, and looking forward to receiving the commission’s final order later this year.
