Ruling in GE v Siemens Gamesa patent case exposes US offshore wind to 'billions of dollars of risk'

A federal court in Massachusetts rejected GE's request to throw out an offshore wind-related patent infringement action brought by Siemens Gamesa, saying patent law extends the full breadth of the outer continental shelf (OCS) in a ruling that an expert analyst said should put the whole US offshore wind industry on alert for potential litigation.

Siemens Gamesa is accusing GE of infringing on two patents with its giant Haliade-X 13MW offshore wind turbines, but GE argued patent law only extends 12 nautical miles from the coastline, in what comprises the “territorial sea”, and that as its machines would be installed outside this zone no such infringement would take place in the US.