The plodding pace of patent litigation, coupled with the federal judiciary’s aversion to granting injunctive relief to patent-holders, has helped to make the U.S. International Trade Commission an increasingly popular battlefield for litigants in the ever-evolving smartphone wars. But it’s not just companies like Apple and HTC that are jumping on the ITC bandwagon. Chip maker Rambus, which has derived billions from patent licensing alone, asked the ITC to block the sale of a wide range of electronic devices in 2010. Non-practicing entities, or patent trolls, are crowding the ITC as well, wielding the threat of import bans to exact settlements from accused infringers.
But small-scale licensing companies and NPEs may now find the ITC less hospitable, thanks to a ruling handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Tuesday. In a 2-1 decision, a Federal Circuit panel affirmed a ruling by the ITC that a company called PPC that designs and manufactures cable connectors does not have standing to bring an ITC complaint because it is not protected as a “domestic industry” under the ITC’s enabling statute, the Tariff Act of 1930.
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