August 3, 2011
News Release 11-098
Contact: Peg O'Laughlin, 202-205-1819

Paul J. Luckern, Chief Administrative Law Judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), is retiring from government service today, August 3, 2011.

Luckern, a long-serving and highly regarded jurist, has been an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at the USITC since 1984. He was named Chief Administrative Law Judge in 2008.

As an ALJ, Luckern managed litigation, presided over evidentiary hearings, and made initial determinations in the agency's section 337 investigations involving unfair practices in import trade. These investigations most often involve allegations of patent and trademark infringement. As Chief Administrative Law Judge, Luckern provided administrative guidance and leadership to assure a thorough, yet expeditious, processing of the agency's section 337 investigation caseload. He continued to preside in section 337 investigations as well.

Luckern was appointed an ALJ with the Social Security Administration in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1981. From 1971 to 1981, he served as a trial attorney in intellectual property with the U.S. Department of Justice, where he received Special Commendation awards for outstanding service in 1975 and 1979. He started as an associate with the law firm of Fish & Neave in New York City in 1964 and later became a junior partner there.

From 1962 to 1964, Luckern served as a technical advisor to the late Honorable I. Jack Martin of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. Prior to that, he worked under a contract as a patent consultant for J.R. Geigy, A.G., in Basel, Switzerland. He was a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from 1956 to 1960, and he began his career as a chemist at Eastman Kodak.

Luckern holds an LL.B (J.D.) degree and an LL.M degree from Georgetown University. He received a bachelor of science degree in chemistry, cum laude, from Georgetown University and a master of science degree with thesis in organic chemistry from Cornell University. He completed further graduate work under a research grant and taught chemistry at the University of Southern California. Luckern is a native of Auburn, New York.

The U.S. International Trade Commission is an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of government, determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.