Allen & Overy secures another important ITC 337 victory for Google
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19 July 2022
Allen & Overy (A&O) defended Google LLC (Google) in multiple trials before the International Trade Commission (ITC) in a Section 337 investigation against California-based EcoFactor, who had been seeking to stop Google from importing and selling its Nest Smart Thermostats in the United States since 2019. In the 2022 trial, A&O prevailed at trial on all of its defenses – invalidating all of EcoFactor's asserted patents and proving that neither EcoFactor nor Google practices any of the patents.
The Administrative Law Judge issued an Initial Determination in April 2022, finding that Google did not infringe EcoFactor's patents literally or under the doctrine of equivalents; EcoFactor's patents were invalid both for lack of patentable subject matter and lack of written description; and that EcoFactor failed to establish that it practices the patents and has a domestic industry.
On June 22, 2022, the Commission affirmed the ALJ's determination of no violation of section 337 and terminated the investigation. On July 19, 2022, the Commission issued the Public Order. In the 2020 trial, the team invalidated EcoFactor's patents and proved EcoFactor does not practice its own technology.
The A&O team was led by partners Shamita Etienne-Cummings and James Gagen, senior counsel Grace Wang and associates Megan Ines, Jacob Rothenberg, and Emily Lipka.
Certain Smart Thermostat Systems, Smart HVAC Systems, Smart HVAC Control Systems, And Components Thereof; Inv. No. 337-TA-1258.