Domestic Industry and Hindsight Bias
by Dennis Crouch
Broadcom Corp. v. ITC (Fed. Cir. 2022)
Broadcom petitioned the ITC to halt imports by Renesas Electronics (and many others) simply because they infringe two Broadcom patents:
- US7512752, claims 1, 2, 5, 7, 8: memory accessibility device with strengthen access to shared memory.
- US7437583, claims 17–18, 25–26: gating clock alerts to decrease energy use.
But, the ITC sided completely with Renesas:
- For the � patent, the ITC discovered no “domestic sector” to secure – a prerequisite for USITC action. In particular, Broadcom was unable to present any accredited domestic use of the creation as claimed. In addition, the ITC identified no infringement of statements 25-26.
- For the � patent, the ITC uncovered infringement of claim 5, but concluded that claim 5 was invalid as evident. (In a parallel IPR proceeding, the PTAB also located assert 5 apparent).
On attraction, the Federal Circuit consolidated the ITC case with the IPR appeals and has affirmed in favor of Renesas.
Domestic Marketplace: The International Trade Commission (ITC) is a branch of the U.S. authorities whose part is the protection of domestic sector against overseas overreach. As component of its part, a patentee can complain to the ITC about infringing imports. A prerequisite for these Part 337 instances is the existence of a domestic sector to guard.
[ITC powers over infringing imports] use only if an field in the United States, relating to the articles or blog posts guarded by the patent, copyright, trademark, mask do the job, or structure concerned, exists or is in the course of action of currently being founded.
19 U.S.C. § 1337(a)(2). Consequently, the statute needs “an market in the United States, relating to the content shielded by the patent” getting asserted. The patentee can confirm that the domestic business previously exists by pointing to precise goods in the US industry that apply at minimum one particular claim of the asserted patent. Of system, small domestic gross sales do not equate to “an field.” Instead, the regulation also requires a showing that the patentee has made significant/sizeable expenditure in equipment, labor, engineering, analysis and enhancement, and/or licensing. 19 U.S.C. § 1337(a)(3).
Right here, Broadcom pointed to its system-on-a-chip (SoC) in serving the domestic market for the �. Nevertheless, Broadcom’s chips do not contain a “clock tree driver” expected by all statements of the patent, and the ITC found no domestic sector. Broadcom generally argued that facet of the patent was integrated by shoppers. Nevertheless Broadcom did not point to any precise scenarios of these types of integration. But, generalities regarding the domestic business are inadequate. The court defined:
As in Microsoft, Broadcom failed to detect any precise integration of the domestic business SoC and the “clock tree driver” firmware, or a distinct locale wherever the firmware was stored. [And therfore] the Commission’s acquiring that Broadcom failed to fulfill the domestic marketplace necessity of Section 337 was supported by significant proof.
Slip Op. Immediately after dropping ahead of the ALJ, Broadcom extra even further proof pointing to a certain procedure. Even so, the ITC and CAFed both of those concluded that new argument had been waived.
Broadcom was able to demonstrate a domestic field for the � patent, but the court also affirmed the PTAB results that the asserted statements were invalid. The court’s only serious quibble was with regard to grammar. In a footnote, the court explained:
The Board and Commission decisions refer to what “is” evident. Since § 103 addresses what “would have been” clear, we suggest utilization of the statutory language that appears back again to the previous in purchase to steer clear of the appearance of hindsight bias.
Slip Op. at Observe 2. I examine by means of the ITC determination and discovered the adhering to line that seems to have lifted Choose Lourie’s ire: “[T]he document proof thoroughly supports the FID’s finding that assert 8 is apparent around Foster alone.” [ITC Decision – 711340-1540697]. I also read by the PTAB decisions, but could not obtain any parallel offensive statements. Fairly, the PTAB was very careful to frequently recite the line “would have been evident.” The PTAB did conclude that every single problematic declare “is unpatentable below 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious.” Having said that, that statement does not show up problematic to me.