Dive Brief:
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This week an appeals court will hear arguments about the U.S. International Trade Commission’s decision to block digital transmissions of 3-D dental records into the U.S.
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The import ban has the potential to impact other digital assets.
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Experts say the case could lead to copyright infringement complaints, which could potentially result in the USITC blocking the import of other digital goods and negatively impact cloud computing.
Dive Insight:
Prior to the current case, the agency has focused primarily on patent disputes involving physical products.
“If the ruling were to stand, what it would do, ultimately, is open the door to a lot of unpredictable and potentially problematic attempts to use the USITC in ways that it really shouldn’t have been used in the first place,” said Charles Duan, director of the Patent Reform Project at Public Knowledge.
As part of its role, the USITC can block imports of products to protect U.S. companies’ intellectual property, including copyright.
