The United States International Trade Commission Issues General Exclusion Order in Patent Investigation
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 8, 2020 - Baker Botts, a leading international business law firm, announced a victory for client Brother Industries, Ltd.; Brother International Corporation (U.S.A.); and Brother Industries (U.S.A.), Inc. (“Brother”) in a patent investigation against thirty respondents at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
On November 23, 2020, the ITC issued a final determination, a general exclusion order, and twenty cease-and-desist orders in Certain Toner Cartridges, Components Thereof, and Systems Containing Same, ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1174. These orders will become final on January 22, 2021, after a 60-day Presidential review period.
The final determination confirms Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) Clark S. Cheney’s finding that thirty entities violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 C.F.R. § 1337), based on their importation into the United States, sale for importation, and/or sale within the United States after importation of toner cartridges and components thereof that infringe certain of Brother’s patents.
The ITC determined not to review ALJ Cheney’s findings that Brother’s claims were established by substantial, reliable, and probative evidence, including Brother’s claim that an exclusion order limited to just the products of the named respondents would likely be circumvented, and that there is a widespread pattern of violation of Section 337 with regard to the accused toner cartridges. These findings resulted from a complaint that Brother filed on August 19, 2019, and the investigation that was instituted on September 23, 2019, based on that complaint.
The legal team for Brother was based in Baker Botts’ Washington, D.C. office and included Lisa Kattan, Luke Pedersen, Jamie Lynn, Tommy Martin, Andrew Wilson, Sam Kassa, and Matt Welch.
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