The Commission may grant a cease and desist order (“CDO”) when it finds a violation of Section 337. See 19 U.S.C. 1337(f)(1). Historically the Commission would grant a CDO upon a showing that a respondent had a “commercially...more
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has broad power to issue exclusion orders blocking the importation of goods determined to have infringed or misappropriated complainants' IP rights. Moreover, the ITC’s in rem...more
Under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (“Section 337”), the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC” or “Commission”) has the authority to issue exclusion orders barring the importation of articles that...more
ITC to Determine if Importing of Oil-Vape Cartridges to Go Up in Smoke - The ITC recently initiated an investigation into whether 38 manufacturers' imports of oil-vape cartridges used to smoke cannabis and THC infringe a...more
The November 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses the emergence of trademark filings for NFTs and a recent ITC patent infringement case regarding imported oil-vape cartridges. In this...more
On March 2, 2020, the Federal Circuit issued Comcast v. ITC and held that the International Trade Commission (ITC) can block the importation of products that do not infringe a U.S. patent at the time of importation. The case...more
As part of the Trump Administration’s longstanding “trade war” with China over Chinese government trade practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation that the Administration has determined to...more
In a recent Initial Determination (“ID”), ALJ McNamara indicated that the inclusion of a certification provision in the Limited Exclusion Order (“LEO”) was warranted to allow the respondent to import non-infringing redesigns....more
At the end of 2018, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued an opinion in One World Techs., Inc. v. United States. In that decision, Judge Choe-Groves concluded that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)...more
The ITC recently issued a Seizure and Forfeiture Order in response to an attempted importation of “ink cartridges and components thereof” subject to a General Exclusion Order (“GEO”) issued May 26, 2016. Certain Ink...more
While it is well understood that the ITC can issue an exclusion order to stop the importation of articles found to infringe a patent, it is not as well known that such orders can also prevent certain domestic activities. A...more
When people think of actions filed with the International Trade Commission (ITC) under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, they likely think of patent infringement cases. And the majority of ITC cases do involve patents,...more
As anticipated, on December 12, 2018, the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) issued a notice to review the Final Initial Determination and Recommended Determination (“FID”) issued by Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”)...more
On October 30, 2018, the Federal Circuit weighed in on Converse’s Chuck Taylor trade dress infringement lawsuit. As reported in If the IP Fits, Wear It: IP Protection For Footwear – a U.S. Perspective, Converse filed over 30...more
When faced with allegations of patent infringement at the International Trade Commission (ITC), a respondent must quickly evaluate whether or not to request an AIA review (hereinafter, inter partes review for convenience) at...more
The U.S. International Trade Commission is charged with remedying unfair acts in the importation of products into the United States. While alleged unfair acts at issue before the Commission tend to take the form of...more
Section 337 investigations are in rem proceedings to determine whether imported articles infringe a valid intellectual property right. Personal jurisdiction over the manufacturer or importer of those articles is not required...more
In a recent Opinion, the Commission continued the practice of including its usual certification provision in the Limited Exclusion Order despite the complainant’s request for a more restrictive certification provision. In re...more
In Cisco Systems, Inc. v. ITC, No. 16-2563 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 28, 2017), the Federal Circuit affirmed the Commission’s exclusion order entered in Certain Network Devices, Related Software and Components Thereof (I), Inv. No....more
Patent Judgments and Awards - On July 14, 2017, the International Trade Commission determined that financial services company Diebold Nixdorf, Inc. (“Diebold”) violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act by importing ATMs and...more
On May 17, 2017, the International Trade Commission (ITC) reversed an ALJ’s ruling and found a violation of Section 337 in Certain Air Mattress Systems, Components Thereof and Methods of using the Same (“Certain Air Mattress...more
The International Trade Commission recently issued a general exclusion order barring the importation of bed sheets with falsely advertised thread counts as a remedy for Section 337 violations. The decision in In re Certain...more
En Banc Federal Circuit Upholds The Commission’s Position In Suprema – On August 10, 2015, in an en banc Opinion written by Circuit Judge Reyna, the Federal Circuit upheld the Commission’s position in Suprema, Inc. v....more
In a case of first impression, a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit panel ruled that an exclusion order based on a violation of Section 337 may not be predicated on a theory of induced infringement where...more
On August 3, 2013, the President acting through the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) disapproved the decision of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC or “Commission”) to issue an exclusion order in Certain Electronic...more