A Survey of Trade Secret Investigations at the International Trade Commission: A Model for Future Litigants

42 Columbia Science and Technology Law Review 41, Fall 2013

49 Pages Posted: 8 Dec 2013

See all articles by P. Andrew Riley

P. Andrew Riley

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP; American University Washington College of Law

Jonathan Stroud

Unified Patents, LLC; American University Washington College of Law

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) hosts some of the world’s most contentious billion-dollar patent litigants, who seek quick turnaround times and the prospect of a broad exclusion order against infringing imports. For almost forty years, parties have treated it as an alternative (or supplement) to patent litigation. Yet the statutory authority governing ITC violations makes room for many other types of unfair intellectual property violations to be investigated by the Commission as well, including, significantly, trade secret misappropriation. Practitioners have begun to take notice. Since the notorious TianRui appellate decision, the ITC has initiated five trade secret investigations, all sharing similar fact patterns. The time has long come for an exhaustive survey of all of the trade secret cases the ITC has handled over the years, an elucidation of the current ITC law of trade secrets, and a comprehensive guide that future parties can follow in bringing an investigation. This article answers that long-felt need.

Keywords: ITC, Trade Secrets, Misappropriation, Tianrui, 337, China

Suggested Citation

Riley, Philip and Stroud, Jonathan, A Survey of Trade Secret Investigations at the International Trade Commission: A Model for Future Litigants (2013). 42 Columbia Science and Technology Law Review 41, Fall 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2364616

Philip Riley

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP ( email )

901 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001
United States
202.408.4266 (Phone)

American University Washington College of Law ( email )

4300 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
United States

Jonathan Stroud (Contact Author)

Unified Patents, LLC ( email )

5109 Sherier Place Northwest
Washington, DC 20016
United States
5048132171 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://unifiedpatents.com

American University Washington College of Law ( email )

4300 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
United States

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