Defendant
8 cases as defendant.
Company overview. The United States International Trade Commission (USITC, commonly the ITC) is an independent, bipartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency of the U.S. government — not a commercial company. It was established by Congress on September 8, 1916 as the U.S. Tariff Commission and renamed in 1974 under the Trade Act of 1974. Headquarters are in Washington, D.C. (500 E Street SW). It employs roughly 400 career staff (402 as of FY2017, per Wikipedia) and was funded at approximately $122 million in FY2025 (Congressional Research Service), with a ~$134 million FY2026 request. It is neither public nor private; it reports to Congress, the President, and USTR.
Operations. The USITC administers U.S. trade remedy law. Its best-known function is conducting Section 337 investigations into unfair import practices, including patent infringement by imported goods, where it can issue exclusion orders and cease-and-desist orders. It also conducts antidumping/countervailing-duty injury investigations, Section 201 "escape clause" import-injury investigations, maintains the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, and provides trade data and economic analysis to the executive and legislative branches (usitc.gov).
Patent-litigation posture. The case data is atypical: the ITC appears once, solely as defendant (0 plaintiff / 1 defendant), in Manufacturing Resources International, Inc. v. U.S. International Trade Commission, Federal Circuit No. 24-1749. This is not an NPE or an operating company defending suits — it is the administrative tribunal whose own Section 337 determinations get appealed. Its "defendant" status reflects its role as appellee when parties challenge ITC rulings in the Federal Circuit, which has exclusive jurisdiction over such appeals.
Notable context. The tracked case arose from Investigation No. 337-TA-1344 (instituted Sept. 19, 2022), where display-maker Manufacturing Resources International (Alpharetta, GA) alleged Samsung's outdoor and semi-outdoor electronic displays infringed five display-cooling patents (e.g., U.S. 8,854,595; 9,173,322; 9,629,287; 10,506,740; 11,013,142). The appeal was voluntarily dismissed under Fed. R. App. P. 42(b) on August 29, 2024, nonprecedential, with each side bearing its own costs.
Samsara appeals the ITC's no-violation determination in Inv. No. 337-TA-1393, putting the '130 patent's § 101 and domestic-industry rulings at issue. The appeal is pending.
Appeal from the ITC's affirmance of the ALJ's invalidity determination in Investigation No. 337-TA-1242. The Federal Circuit appeal was dismissed by stipulation on June 27, 2022.
MRI appealed the ITC's no-violation determination in Investigation No. 337-TA-1331. The appeal was voluntarily dismissed pursuant to a joint stipulation, with no merits determination or relief awarded.
SiRF appealed the ITC's final determination in Inv. No. 337-TA-602. The Federal Circuit affirmed in full, upholding Global Locate's standing to assert the '346 patent, SiRF's direct infringement, and patent eligibility of the asserted method claims; Broadcom participated as intervenor.
Align appealed from the ITC enforcement proceeding relating to the 2006 consent order that included U.S. Patent No. 6,227,850. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded, holding the ITC exceeded its authority in reviewing the ALJ's order denying termination and remanding for trial on whether former OrthoClear employees violated the Consent Order.
Appeal by Align Technology from the ITC's determination in the 337-TA-562 enforcement proceeding; the Federal Circuit issued its opinion on July 17, 2014.
Appeal from the ITC's 337-TA-833 determination, resolved via ClearCorrect Operating, LLC v. ITC, 810 F.3d 1283 (Fed. Cir. 2015), which reversed the Commission's holding that electronic transmission of digital models is an imported article.
Apple appealed the ITC's determination in Inv. No. 337-TA-750. The Federal Circuit affirmed anticipation of '607 claims 1–7, reversed anticipation of claim 10, vacated the obviousness ruling for failure to weigh objective evidence, and reversed and remanded the '828 claim construction.