The United States International Trade Commission’s patent enforcement activities are under fire from two camps concerned about the agency’s excessive remedies for patent infringement. In Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, former commissioner Charlotte Lane lamented that the agency has become the “International Trolling Commission” where rent-seeking patent trolls can harass innovative U.S. companies.
On the same day, the U.S. Trade Representative refused to veto an ITC import ban on certain Samsung smart phones, even though the administration recently vetoed a similar ban against Apple. The difference between the cases hinged on the ITC’s excessive enforcement of Samsung’s standard-essential patents. The veto may have looked like favoritism, but it was really about correcting the agency’s bad patent policy.
The good news is that momentum is gaining for significant reform of the ITC’s role in the patent system. Some good ideas for reform include ending ITC patent jurisdiction entirely, limiting the agency to enforcement of district court awards, or most likely, better aligning the ITC’s remedies for patent infringement with federal district courts.