House Panel Asked to Cabin Trade Commission’s Patent Authority

The US International Trade Commission’s authority in patent disputes should be reined in by Congress, intellectual property professionals told a US House subcommittee.

The ITC has “shifted from its roots as a specialized forum for addressing international trade disputes to a superpowered and super expensive district court accessible to anyone with a patent,” Sam Korte, senior principal counsel at Garmin Ltd., told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet during a hearing Tuesday.

Korte and other panelists criticized the complexity and high costs resulting from parallel lawsuits in both courts and the ITC.

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