Federal Circuit Medical Device IP Case Highlights ITC Tools

In a precedential opinion, the Federal Circuit on Dec. 7, 2018, reversed the final determination of the U.S. International Trade Commission that Laerdal Medical Corp. failed to plead its trade dress claims with adequate detail, and vacated the ITC’s decision that no relief was warranted for those claims. The Federal Circuit remanded the case for the ITC to evaluate public interest concerns and, if none existed, to issue the appropriate remedy. The decision demonstrates the value of the ITC for intellectual property rights holders seeking to combat a wide variety of intellectual property infringement, particularly in instances where one or more of the potential respondents may not appear in the ITC to defend against the infringement claims.