France Must Again Face Shipwreck Recovery Interference Claims

Global Marine Exploration Inc. won revival of claims that France unlawfully interfered with the company’s efforts to recover a French ship, La Trinite, that sank off the coast of Florida in the 16th century, the Eleventh Circuit said.

France convinced a district court that Global Marine’s trade secret misappropriation, unjust enrichment, and contract interference claims were barred by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which generally bars lawsuits against foreign states in U.S. courts.

But the district court should have found that the case could proceed under FSIA’s commercial activity exception, which provides that a foreign country can be sued for ...