BMW Obtains Preliminary Injunction Against Zync; Federal Court Orders Zync to Halt ITC Trade Secret

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2026

WASHINGTON, DC—Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) announced today that the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (NDCA) granted BMW’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Zync Inc. (Zync), enforcing the parties’ contractual forum selection clause requiring disputes to be resolved exclusively in Munich, Germany.

As part of its June 22, 2026 ruling, the NDCA Court ordered Zync to seek a stay of its International Trade Commission (ITC) trade secret investigation, Certain In-Vehicle Infotainment Systems, Components Thereof, and Products Containing the Same, Inv. No. 337-TA-1493, pending resolution of Zync’s appeal of an earlier California state-court decision—or until that judgment becomes final if affirmed.

The ruling represents BMW’s latest victory in a series of proceedings arising from Zync’s efforts to pursue trade secret claims in multiple U.S. forums despite the parties’ agreement to litigate disputes in Munich. The preliminary injunction follows both the NDCA Court’s earlier issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and a prior ruling by the Superior Court of California, Santa Clara County, which dismissed Zync’s trade secret claims and held that the parties’ agreements require such disputes to be brought in Munich, Germany.

At its core, this dispute arises from a routine supplier-selection decision. After evaluating Zync's proposed technology, BMW elected not to incorporate Zync's product into its vehicles and instead selected a more experienced and established video-streaming content partner and a solution better suited to its needs, using pre-existing browser-based video-streaming technology. Seeking to blame someone else for its own commercial failures, Zync launched a series of trade secret lawsuits against BMW in multiple U.S. forums based on allegations arising from the parties' prior business relationship.

BMW has consistently denied Zync’s allegations of trade secret misappropriation and maintains that it has not misappropriated any Zync trade secrets or other confidential information. The present rulings concern where any dispute may be litigated, not the merits of Zync’s allegations, which BMW continues to dispute in their entirety.

In granting BMW’s motion, NDCA Judge Charles R. Breyer held that BMW satisfied all four requirements for preliminary injunctive relief and is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that the parties’ forum-selection clause governs Zync’s ITC allegations. The Court concluded that Zync’s ITC claims fall squarely within the scope of the parties’ agreements, rejected Zync’s argument that the ITC possesses mandatory jurisdiction, and found that BMW would suffer irreparable harm if deprived of its bargained-for forum.

The Court further determined that Zync’s ITC allegations substantially overlap with the trade secret claims previously dismissed by the California Superior Court. Rather than allowing Zync to circumvent that ruling while its appeal remains pending, the Court ordered Zync to seek a stay of the ITC investigation pending resolution of the appeal.

The Court also rejected Zync’s request for an extraordinary bond of $300 million and instead required BMW to post a bond of only $10,000.

As a result of the Court’s ruling, the ITC investigation remains stayed.

Additional Background on the Dispute

BMW has now prevailed at every stage of the forum-selection dispute.

On May 12, 2026, the Superior Court of California, Santa Clara County dismissed Zync’s trade secret action and held that any such claims must be litigated in Munich, Germany. The court expressly concluded that: “If Zync wishes to pursue this litigation, it must do so in Munich, Germany.”

Despite that ruling, Zync filed a Notice of Appeal and continued pursuing substantially the same allegations before the ITC. To enforce the parties’ contractual forum-selection clause, BMW subsequently filed an action in the Northern District of California seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.

On June 12, 2026, the NDCA granted BMW’s request for an ex parte TRO, finding that BMW faced a substantial risk of irreparable harm if Zync were permitted to continue litigating in a forum prohibited by the parties’ agreement. The Court further found little risk of prejudice to Zync from a temporary pause in the ITC proceedings while BMW’s request for broader injunctive relief was considered.

In response to the TRO, on June 15, 2026, Chief Administrative Law Judge Bryan F. Moore stayed the ITC investigation until June 29, 2026. The ITC stay was entered in direct response to the NDCA’s ex parte TRO, which required Zync to immediately cease participation in the ITC investigation while the district court considered BMW’s request for broader injunctive relief.

Following full briefing and a hearing, Judge Breyer granted BMW’s motion for a preliminary injunction and ordered Zync to seek a continued stay of the ITC proceeding pending resolution of the California appeal.

Notably, this marks the second time in the past six months that BMW has obtained both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction enforcing its rights in U.S. litigation, following its earlier success against non-practicing entity Onesta.

Finnegan, in support of BMW, will continue to pursue all available remedies to ensure that the parties’ contractual commitments are honored and that any dispute proceeds in the agreed-upon forum—Munich, Germany.

Contacts
 
Terra Liddell, Chief Marketing Officer
terra.liddell@finnegan.com

Angela Robinson, Director of Branding and Communications
angela.robinson@finnegan.com

About Finnegan
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