The United States International Trade Commission (“ITC”) is a quasi-judicial federal agency with broad investigative responsibilities on matters of international trade. An increasingly popular function of the ITC is serving as an alternate forum to litigate intellectual property disputes arising under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. § 1337),
Trademarks are use-based rights, meaning that a trademark is only entitled to be registered if the mark is actually in use. Likewise, the registrant must continue to use the mark in commerce in order to maintain registration and must take action to renew a trademark registration at various milestones (year 5, 10, 20, 30, etc.).
The Case Act of 2020 provides cost-effective means to protect copyrights. With the passage of the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (the “CASE Act”), Congress has blessed the creation of an alternative forum for copyright infringement claims, the Copyright Claims Board (“CCB”) within the U.S. Copyright Office, in which claimants can seek