High Court Petition Increases Scrutiny on Import Ban Requirement

The US Supreme Court is being urged to take up a rare and highly technical challenge to a key US International Trade Commission requirement that patent owners show sufficient domestic operations to justify blocking imports of infringing products.

Roku Inc. last month petitioned the justices to review whether the ITC exceeded its authority by counting a rival’s investments in unpatented software as satisfying the “domestic industry” requirement under the Tariff Act—despite the asserted patent claiming a physical device. The dispute is an “ideal opportunity to clarify” the domestic industry requirement, Roku’s petition said, asking the court to “restrain the ITC’s ...