Congress, not ITC, Should Determine International Data Trading Rules, NYT Editorial Board Says
A New York Times editorial urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reverse an International Trade Commission ruling preventing the transmission into the country of data found to be infringing on existing patents. The appeals court…
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case, to be heard Tuesday at 10 a.m. in courtroom 201, pits dental braces alternative manufacturer ClearCorrect against the ITC in its appeal of the commission's decision to prohibit the company from receiving electronic information from its branch in Pakistan. The ITC said the company infringed patents held by industry leader Align Technology, and ruled last year to block data used to determine molds for a patient's orthodontic device being sent electronically from Pakistan to the company's headquarters in Houston. "Because it defines the limits of the commission's authority, Congress should decide whether the changing nature of international trade requires the government to apply the same rules to data that it does to physical goods," the Monday editorial said. "History suggests that it might not be sympathetic to the commission's position." The editorial also said the commission's ruling, if not struck down, "is bound to hamper the exchange of ideas and information on the Internet."