16
Feb
By John Presper

On February 14, 2022, the Commission issued a notice of its final determination of a violation of section 337 and issuance of a general exclusion order (“GEO”) in Certain Vaporizer Cartridges and Components Thereof (Inv. No. 337-TA-1211).

By way of background, this investigation was instituted in August 2020 based on a complaint by Juul Labs Inc. (“JLI”) alleging violations of section 337 by 49 respondents in the importation and/or sale of certain vaporizer cartridges and components thereof that infringe U.S. Design Patent No. D842,536; U.S. Design Patent No. D858,870; U.S. Design Patent No. D858,869; and U.S. Design Patent No. D858,868.  ALJ McNamara found 18 respondents in default in Order Nos. 35, 62, 63, and 64.  On October 14, 2021, the ALJ issued an initial determination (“ID”) granting JLI’s motion for summary determination that the defaulting respondents violated section 337, and recommended issuance of a GEO.  See our November 16, 2021 post for more details regarding the ID.

According to the notice, the Commission determined to review the ID in part with respect to the economic prong of the domestic industry requirement, and on review, affirmed the ID.  The Commission also agreed that the appropriate remedy is a GEO, and entered a bond of 100%.

We will post the Commission's opinion when it becomes available.

UPDATE:  On March 1, 2022, the Commission issued the public version of its opinion.