What You Need to Know about the United States International Trade Commission, Unfair Competition, and Protection of Intellectual Property

Valerie K. Barker, M.S., J.D, University of Virginia School of Law, Class of 2013, , USA

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) is a federal administrative agency with investigative and legal powers over trade. It protects the domestic industry of the United States of America against unfair foreign competition, including intellectual property matters, and its popularity as a venue for patent infringement litigation has increased. This paper will describe the mission of the ITC, how it works, and how it differs from the federal courts. The paper will also discuss why some think the ITC is too protectionist as well as some of the proposed and recent changes at the ITC.

Valerie K. Barker, M.S., J.D. is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, class of 2013. She earned her bachelor's degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University and a master's degree in Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University. Following graduation from Oklahoma State University, Valerie worked as an engineer at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and then at The Boeing Company. While in law school, Valerie served as Managing Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology. She spent the summer of 2012 as a summer associate with the law firm Baker Botts, LLP and will become an associate at that firm upon completion of the bar exam in 2013.

The University of Virginia Patent Foundation, doing business as the University of Virginia Licensing & Ventures Group, is responsible for technology transfer at the University of Virginia and licenses and patents intellectual property developed at the university. It advances promising research discoveries to the marketplace through licenses with industry, new venture formation, and other available pathways.