ITC Proposes Revamping Section 337 Procedures

If implemented largely as proposed, these changes will be among the most far-reaching in the modern period of Section 337 litigation.

In a recent Notice of proposed rulemaking, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) promulgated wide-ranging proposed changes to its Rules of Practice and Procedure.¹ If implemented largely as proposed, which is likely given the ITC's history of follow-through with administrative rulemaking, these changes will be among the most far-reaching in the modern (i.e., post-1988) period of Section 337 litigation.

The ITC's Rules of Practice and Procedure are the analog to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Found principally in 19 C.F.R. § 210.1, et seq., these rules cover all aspects of agency adjudication, including protective orders, forms of pleadings, motions practice, discovery, hearings, intra-agency review (appeals) and remedies.