United States. Nortek Security & Control (NCS) announced that an administrative law judge (ALJ) of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued notice finding that there was no violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in connection with the patent infringement action brought against Nortek by The Chamberlain Group, Inc.
The administrative judge ruled that none of the products Nortek currently sells infringe any of Chamberlain's patents and that one of the asserted patents is invalid. In addition, the administrative judge ordered Chamberlain to pay attorneys' fees and costs to compensate Nortek for Chamberlain's punishable conduct during the discovery. The action is Research number 337-TA-1118. Nortek has not yet received a public version of the ALJ's full opinion.
"We have been vindicated by the ALJ's determination, which is reinforced by its decision to sanction Chamberlain for his inappropriate conduct, and we look forward to upholding its decision if Chamberlain requests that it be reviewed by the Commission. We remain steadfast in our commitment to upholding intellectual property rights and will continue to innovate and develop our own new products to bring our customers to market," said Dan Schatz, senior vice president and general counsel at NSC.
In June 2018, Chamberlain filed a complaint with the ITC requesting an investigation related to certain NSC products. The complaint sought an exclusion order prohibiting the importation, sale for import and sale after importation of products that allegedly infringe certain Chamberlain patents. An evidentiary hearing was held before the ALJ in June 2019.
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