Media Coverage
Source: Law360
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
09.21.20
In an extremely rare move, the ITC suspended the limited exclusion and cease and desist orders it issued against SZ DJI Technology Co., for violating Section 337 of the Tariff Act by infringing Autel Robotics Co.'s drone patents, while the commission waits to see whether a related PTAB invalidation holds up on appeal.
Companies accused of Section 337 violations may now rush to file their PTAB petitions in the hopes of getting the complainant's patents invalidated before the ITC decides whether they were infringed, Law360 reported.
"I think you will see some earlier [inter partes reviews] filed in hopes they can beat [remedial orders], because if it happened once, maybe it'll happen again, but I would not be out advising clients necessarily that this is a strategy to avoid an exclusion order in the ITC," said Kecia Reynolds, an Intellectual Property partner at Pillsbury. "I don't think this is a hard and fast rule that the commission has come up with."
Reynolds added that the merits of DJI's case also likely played into the ITC's decision, which is something for companies to keep in mind when molding their case.
“The ITC's suspension is giving deference to the appeals process itself, rather than giving deference to the PTAB,” Reynolds added.
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