The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has emerged as a critical venue for parties seeking to enforce intellectual property rights. Cooley's ITC Section 337 Litigation practice group includes a former ITC staff attorney and experienced IP trial lawyers who approach all Section 337 investigations as if they will be litigated through trial, while working closely with our clients to find opportunities to resolve these fast-moving investigations in the early stages. Given the expedited and hotly contested nature of these actions, there is an emphasis on developing clear, succinct legal strategies that position our clients to get the best results while minimizing disruption to their businesses. Our lawyers possess the frontline ITC experience, along with the necessary technical depth and high-stakes IP litigation capability, to navigate successfully the challenges of an ITC investigation.
Deep Understanding of the ITC
Cooley has served as counsel for many leading domestic and international technology companies in these far-reaching, business critical investigations. Our ITC Section 337 Litigation team has been involved in more than a dozen high-stakes Section 337 investigations, including the successful representation of a Fortune 500 company in one of the largest ITC trials ever, and have protected hundreds of millions of dollars worth of commerce for our clients.
In addition to our experience practicing before the ITC, the firm's team includes a former senior investigative attorney with the ITC who served as lead government counsel in a number of complex investigations involving large international companies with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. This unique perspective has given our lawyers in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of the ITC, while deepening our team's understanding of the nuances of Section 337 investigations.
Required Technical Capabilities and Expertise
Complemented by our 300-attorney litigation department, our ITC attorneys have the resources, skill sets and knowledge necessary to develop and quickly implement a legal strategy that permits our clients to get back to their normal business operations, while minimizing the disruption inherent to an investigation. Our attorneys are well-versed in the complex technologies typically at issue in Section 337 investigations. With more than 80 IP attorneys with undergraduate science degrees and in excess of 50 with graduate science degrees, we have experience with virtually all of the pertinent technologies that would disrupt a client's operations. Cooley attorneys combine the technical expertise and trial skills required to represent a client successfully before the ITC.
Representative Experience
A sampling of recent investigations our lawyers have handled, representing both private clients and as former Staff counsel for the ITC, include:
- Certain Portable Communication Devices – Inv. No. 337-TA-827
- Certain Motion-sensitive Sound Effects Devices and Image Display Devices and Components and Products – Inv. No. 337-773
- Certain Video Game Systems and Wireless Controllers and Components – Inv. No. 337-770
- Certain Large Scale Integrated Circuits – Inv. No. 337-716
- Certain MLC Flash Memory Devices – Inv. No. 337-683
- Certain Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp Inverter Circuits – Inv. No. 337-666
- Certain Semiconductor Integrated Circuits – Inv. No. 337-665
- Certain Tunable Laser Chips, Assemblies – Inv. No. 337-662
- Certain Liquid Crystal Display Devices – Inv. No. 337-631
- Certain Semiconductor Chips with Minimized Chip Package Size (IV) – Inv. No. 337-649
- Certain Semiconductor Chips with Minimized Chip Package Size (III) – Inv. No. 337-630
- Certain Semiconductor Chips with Minimized Chip Package Size – Inv. No. 337-605
- Certain Lighting Control Devices Including Dimmer Switches and/or Switches – Inv. No. 337-599
- Certain Baseband Processor Chips and Chipsets – Inv. No. 337-543 (Enforcement)
- Certain Baseband Processor Chips and Chipsets – Inv. No. 337-543 (Remand)
- Certain Field Programmable Gate Arrays – Inv. No. 337-441