ITC Amends Rules, Permanently Moves to e-Filing
The International Trade Commission on Jan. 3 amended its rules of practice and procedure to make various technical corrections, clarify certain provisions, harmonize parts of the ITC's rules and "address concerns that have arisen in Commission practice." The amendments include "replacing gender-specific language with gender-neutral language in the rules," eliminating paper copies and to permanently abide by e-filing requirements, and clarifying the sufficiency of a complaint alleging a violation of Section 337.
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Regarding the Section 337 petitions, the commission initially proposed an amendment requiring a complaint's statement of facts to include fatal allegations that would show the existence of each element of the cause of action underlying the unfair act or method of competition. In response to concerns from the ITC Trial Lawyers Association that different jurisdictions may apply different legal standards for unfair acts alleged under the section, the ITC removed the language "of each element" from a paragraph to address the concern.
The ITC said it agreed with the lawyers association that the amendment "should be applied in a manner that balances the Commission’s goals of making clear that bare assertions of unfair acts or methods of competition are insufficient with the need to allege sufficient information to enable the Commission to determine whether a cause of action exists."
In all, the ITC provided a section-by-section breakdown of its amendments in the following areas: general initiation and conduct of investigations, preliminary and final determinations in AD/CVD injury investigations, and commencement of and pleadings in Section 337 investigations.