How can I research Commission precedent?

All orders and decisions issued by the Administrative Law Judges and the Commission, except those containing confidential business information, are available for inspection at the Commission's Docket Services office at 500 E Street, S.W., Room 112-A. Public orders and decisions of the Administrative Law Judges and the Commission in investigations instituted after January 1, 1996, as well as other documents in the Commission's public docket file, may also be searched and retrieved using EDIS at https://edis.usitc.gov. Researchers can browse an electronic file room or conduct full-text, keyword searches for documents. Please contact the EDIS help desk at (202) 205-EDIS (3347) or send an email request to EDIS3Help@usitc.gov for assistance with using EDIS. To schedule individual or group EDIS training, contact Docket Services at 202-205-1802.

The EDIS system includes search capabilities and procedures to facilitate downloading of Commission documents. Updates to the EDIS system will be implemented in the near future to improve searching capabilities and other functions to facilitate user-friendly access for internal and external parties. Persons interested in obtaining copies of orders, decisions, or other documents that are available on EDIS may print the documents from the Internet. In addition, Commission publications containing decisions in many Section 337 investigations can be downloaded from the Commission’s website at https://www.usitc.gov/intellectual_property/int_prop_publications.htm. Orders and decisions in Section 337 investigations can also be researched on Westlaw™ and LEXIS™.¹⁴ (Materials from the Commission are available in the FINT-ITC database on Westlaw™ and the ITC file of the ITRADE library on LEXIS™.) Some decisions are also published in the United States Patent Quarterly.

Summary information concerning pending and completed investigations can be found on the 337 Investigational History page which is accessible from the Commission’s website at https://www.usitc.gov/intellectual_property/inv_his.htm. Interested persons can search or browse the Investigational History page for information such as the names of the parties involved, the presiding Administrative Law Judge, the types of unfair acts at issue, the identity of the intellectual property rights asserted, and scheduling information, including the target date for completion of the investigation.

¹⁴ However, not all Section 337 orders and decisions are published by Westlaw™ and
LEXIS™.