AMSC will get its day in China’s High Court over copyright claim

American Superconductor Corp. (AMSC), a US maker of wind-turbine components, said China’s highest court agreed to hear an intellectual-property suit against Sinovel Wind Group Co, according to Bloomberg.

The case is seeking USD200,000 in damages and is the smallest of four suits AMSC is pursuing in China against its former largest customer, the Devens, Massachusetts-based company said in an e-mailed statement today.

AMSC is seeking a total of more than USD1.2 billion in damages from China’s biggest turbine maker for allegedly violating sales contracts and stealing its technology. Sinovel stopped accepting contracted shipments in March 2011. A former AMSC employee in Austria pleaded guilty in September to charges including economic espionage for passing software to Sinovel.

A provincial court dismissed the USD200,000 case in February and AMSC filed its appeal with China’s Supreme People’s Court in April. The copyright infringement suit also names Dalian Guotong Electric Co. as a defendant.