Limited Exclusion Orders at the ITC

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has the authority to stop unfair trade practices, including the importation of products found to infringe a valid U.S. patent. But does that authority automatically extend to downstream products incorporating a relatively insignificant infringing component ' such as an automobile that happens to include an infringing light-emitting diode? And is the ITC required to balance the parties' interests and consider factors such as the value of an infringing component compared to the overall value of the imported downstream product? This article examines a current split in authority answering those questions.