ITC Spotlight ‑ July 2023 Edition

Is It Time to Get Real About the Public Interest Factors?

Eighteen years ago this week, eBay, Inc. filed its petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court challenging a Federal Circuit decision that applied its "general rule that courts will issue permanent injunctions against patent infringement absent exceptional circumstances."¹ The Supreme Court opinion that issued almost a year later dramatically changed the way injunctions are handled in patent cases in federal district courts, holding that injunctions in patent cases are to be treated no differently than in other types of cases and are subject to the traditional four-factor test.

Following eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange LLC,² the Federal Circuit in Spansion Inc. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n, held that the remedies in the International Trade Commission ("ITC" or "the Commission")—exclusion orders and cease and desist orders—are different creatures than injunctions in district court and, accordingly, are not subject