Oldnar Corp v. Sanyo NA Corp: Date Argued: February 17th, 2026; Docket Number: 25-1336

Case Summary:In the case of Oldnar Corp v. Sanyo North America Corp (Docket No. 25-1336), argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on February 17, 2026, the relevant facts are as follows:The litigation involves a long-standing intellectual property and contract dispute between Oldnar Corp (formerly known as Nartron Corporation) and Sanyo North America Corporation (along with its successor, Panasonic) concerning capacitive touchscreen technology developed for vehicle dashboards.The factual background dates back to 2008 when Sanyo approached Nartron to assist in developing a "Smart Touch" prototype to win a major supplier contract with General Motors (GM) for the Cadillac User Experience (CUE) system.The parties operated under a Development Services Agreement (DSA) which stipulated that if Sanyo used Nartron’s "Existing Property Rights" or "know-how" in a final product, it was required to execute a separate license agreement and pay royalties.A central factual finding by the district court was that Nartron provided the "core idea" and technical know-how—specifically relating to charge-transfer sensing—that allowed Sanyo to successfully pass the "proof-of-concept" and feasibility phases with GM.Despite using this technical assistance to secure the GM project, Sanyo never executed a final "Product Agreement" or paid royalties to Nartron, leading to a breach of contract claim based on the unauthorized use of intellectual property under Section 9.3 of the DSA.The case has seen over a decade of litigation, including a prior 2019 appellate ruling that remanded the case for a specific determination of what "know-how" was used and how damages should be calculated.In the most recent phase of the litigation, the district court held an evidentiary hearing and concluded that Sanyo did indeed use Nartron's unauthorized know-how through November 2009, but it faced complex factual questions regarding the measure of damages for that specific window of time.The appeal argued on February 17, 2026, challenges the district court’s final assessment of damages, with Oldnar Corp contending that the court undervalued its intellectual property contributions and improperly dismissed its claims for unjust enrichment for the period following the contract's expiration.During the oral arguments, the Sixth Circuit panel scrutinized whether the district court's "reasonable royalty" calculation properly accounted for the market value of the technical "head start" Nartron provided to Sanyo in the competitive GM bidding process.