Section 337 Cases Slow After Spike in 2011, Says ITC Report
The number of Section 337 patent investigations at the International Trade Commission has dropped considerably since a spike in 2011, according to an ITC report issued on June 10. The ITC began 69 investigations in 2011, after initiating about 30…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
in 2009 and nearly 60 in 2010. In contrast, the ITC began 42 investigations in 2013, up from about 40 in 2012. In its report, the ITC noted the controversy over patent cases brought by “non-practicing entities” that do not manufacture the product under investigation. But a look at the data shows that, since 2006, only 20 percent of Section 337 complaints were filed by non-manufacturing companies, said the ITC. They succeeded in getting only four exclusion orders banning imports of infringing products, and in all four cases the company developed the technology at issue instead of buying the patent, it said.