Every now and then, some lawyer proclaims that the U.S. International Trade Commission is losing its luster as the go-to forum for international trade disputes. But the evidence belies that claim. In fact, the once-obscure federal trade agency has become such a popular venue for patent disputes over the past five years that it acquired additional space in its Washington, D.C., building and completed construction of a new courtroom last fall. Lawyers say that its attractiveness, due in large part to its speed and ability to offer powerful injunctive relief, will continue. And law firms who represent clients before it will continue to bring in the business [see charts, following pages].
In fact, federal court decisions and recent changes in patent law brought about by the America Invents Act may have inadvertently made the ITC an even hotter forum for companies looking to keep infringing products from entering the country and being sold in the United States.
