The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has traditionally been harder to access for companies that manufacture abroad, since its powerful border remedies depend on showing a qualifying domestic industry. Recent developments are lowering that barrier. A pair of 2025 Federal Circuit decisions, Lashify and Wuhan Healthgen, significantly expanded who can satisfy the ITC’s domestic industry requirement. Those decisions opened the door to companies whose U.S. presence is built on sales, marketing, distribution, and support rather than manufacturing. Even smaller innovators, once thought too small to qualify, can now avail themselves of the ITC’s powerful exclusion orders. Paired with patent policy shifts and a newly seated, patent-experienced Commission, the strategic calculus of Section 337 has shifted for patent owners and importers alike.
On August 27, please join Principals Jack Wilson and Linhong Zhang for a practical session on what these developments mean for both complainants and respondents. Our hosts will discuss the following topics and more:
What Lashify and Wuhan Healthgen changed about the domestic industry requirement, and who can now credibly access the ITC
What the expanded access means for complainants: new enforcement opportunities and how to build a domestic-industry record that holds up
What it means for respondents: the defensive playbook, from design-arounds and indemnity leverage to reshoring and patent office challenges
Practical steps patent owners and importers should take now to assess exposure and preserve their options
How a newly constituted, full ITC may shape Section 337 practice going forward
