The International Trade Commission (“ITC”) is a powerful and popular venue to enforce intellectual property rights and curtail unfair trade practices, with the primary remedy being exclusion of infringing products from the U.S. market. The ITC is especially relevant today, as the current administration seeks to protect domestic industries from foreign competition. SABA-DC has assembled an experienced panel to discuss the lure and lore of the ITC, as well as its future. We hope to provide (i) a brief introduction to ITC practice and the key ITC and Federal Circuit decisions affecting it; (ii) a comparison of ITC litigation with district court litigation and PTAB proceedings; and (iii) a discussion of how protectionist policies and trade disputes may affect ITC practice.
Panelists:
Asha Allam, Partner, Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg LLP
Tuhin Ganguly, Partner, Pepper Hamilton LLP
Uma Everett, Director, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC
Moderated by Apurv Gaurav, Patent Attorney, Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. His practice includes patent prosecution, post grant proceedings, and litigation.
When: Wednesday, September 4, 2019 from 12pm-1:30pm (lunch will be provided)
Where: Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., 1100 13th Street NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC, 20005 (follow signs to Conference Room 12A)
Asha Allam is a Partner at Adduci Mastrani & Schaumberg LLP, a boutique firm top-ranked internationally for its Section 337 practice before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Asha has litigated over three dozen ITC investigations, a third of which proceeded through trial and adjudication, on behalf of U.S. and international complainants and respondents in a broad range of industries. Asha is an active member of the ITC Trial Lawyers Association, where she serves on the Association’s Executive Committee and formerly served as an editor of the Paul J. Luckern Summer Associate Edition of the 337 Reporter. She is also a contributing author to the American Bar Association’s book entitled "A Lawyer’s Guide to Section 337 Investigations Before the U.S. International Trade Commission." Prior to joining the firm, Asha was a law clerk for the U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program in Washington, D.C. where she analyzed intellectual property laws and regulations worldwide to improve international judicial training programs.
Tuhin Ganguly is a partner in the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group of Pepper Hamilton LLP. Mr. Ganguly focuses his practice on patent litigation and particularly on Section 337 patent litigation at the International Trade Commission. He has experience litigating cases involving a wide variety of technologies including digital imagining technology, integrated circuits, software and web applications, telecommunication systems, digital music equipment, and automobile airbag sensors. In addition to patent litigation at the ITC and in district court, Mr. Ganguly has experience prosecuting patent applications, performing portfolio evaluations, rendering validity and infringement opinions, licensing intellectual property, and counseling clients with respect to strategic portfolio development and monetization. Prior to becoming a patent attorney, Mr. Ganguly was a protein biochemist at Monsanto.
Uma N. Everett is a director in Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox’s Trial & Appellate Practice Group. She concentrates her practice in the area of patent litigation and has represented clients in patent cases in federal courts and before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in the pharmaceutical and electronics industries among others. Ms. Everett is particularly known for deftly executing development of all aspects of case strategy and the efficient management of complicated electronic discovery issues. She has served as trial counsel in multiple proceedings, and has extensive experience in all aspects of litigation from pre-suit investigation through trial and appeal. In addition, she has handled appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal and Third Circuits.