FEDERAL CIRCUIT PROVIDES DIRECTION ON HOW THE CCCP IS APPLIED TO INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION
The jurisdiction of arbitrators to determine their own jurisdiction, or what is often described as the competence-competence doctrine, remains one of the more complex areas of arbitration law in the United States. Recently, in the case of ROHM Semiconductor USA, LLC v. MaxPower Semiconductor, Inc. which arose out of California, the Federal Circuit was confronted with the question of whether the competence-competence doctrine applies where the parties have incorporated by reference the California Code of Civil Procedure, or “CCCP” into their agreement to arbitrate. As discussed further below, the answer to this question turned on whether an arbitration is classified as international or domestic.
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