Chinese firms beat back Section 337 claims at ITC
Three Chinese catering companies have secured a rare win in a US International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation brought against them by Illinois Tool Works (ITW).
ITW and its Chinese subsidiary claimed that Guangzhou Rebenet Catering Equipment Manufacturing Co, Guangzhou Liansheng Trading Co, and Aceplus International had violated unfair import laws, sparking a section 337 investigation.
The manufacturers and sellers of catering goods had misappropriated trade secrets and were guilty of unfair competition through tortious interference with contractual relationships, ITW claimed.
In a decision handed down by the ITC on October 14, the commission affirmed that no section 337 violation had taken place and denied to comment on the trade secret issue, ultimately terminating the investigation.
Fish & Richardson represented the three Chinese companies, led by practice group leader Kurt Glitzenstein, along with principals Brian Boyd, Kevin Su, and Linhong Zhang.
“We’re grateful for this important and decisive ruling,” said Glitzenstein.
“This case is an extension of our longtime work defending the IP rights of Chinese companies in the US and other jurisdictions,” added Ryan McCarthy, a principal at Fish and the chief representative in the firm’s Shenzhen, China office.
Case background
The investigation was launched in July 2019 following a complaint filed on behalf of ITW and its partner Vesta Global Limited of Hong Kong.
They claimed that the Chinese companies’ violations would “substantially” injure the domestic US industry.
In July 2020, a motion for summary determination of no substantial injury was granted but later reversed on December 14, 2020.
The chief administrative law judge issued a final initial determination that found that the companies did not violate Section 337, but held that they had misappropriated certain trade secrets. They also ruled that there was no threat of injuring domestic industry.
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