Saturday, September 22, 2012

ITC: How an obscure bureaucracy makes the world safe for patent trolls

ITC: How an obscure bureaucracy makes the world safe for patent trolls:





Earlier this month, Motorola asked the ITC to ban a wide variety of Apple products, including iPads, MacBooks, and iMacs, from the US market.





If you follow the smartphone patent wars, you've probably heard of the International Trade Commission (ITC), which seems to get dragged into every high-profile patent dispute over the devices. Just this month, Motorola asked the ITC to ban various Apple products from the US, and the ITC separately ruled that Apple doesn't infringe some Samsung patents. But how did this obscure Washington bureaucracy become a major front in the patent wars?
The ITC has the authority to police "unfair methods of competition" by importers, a phrase interpreted to include patent infringement. Because virtually all mobile devices are manufactured overseas, getting the ITC to ban the importation of a device can be just as effective as getting an injunction from a regular court.
A new study from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, suggests that the ITC's patent-enforcement process is tilted in favor of patent holders—and especially patent trolls. The author, K. William Watson, argues that the inherently discriminatory nature of ITC patent enforcement—ITC cases can only be brought against imported products, not domestically produced ones—violates America's obligations under World Trade Organization rules not to discriminate against foreign products. He says Congress should eliminate the provision of trade law, known as Section 337, that gives the ITC authority over patent issues.
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