Sharp-Vizio ITC Judge ‘Not Sure’ She'll Use Virtual Hearings in Every Case

The International Trade Commission “is working on technology that will permit virtual hearings,” Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Dee Lord told Sharp and Vizio lawyers in a June 24 telephonic hearing, according to a transcript (login required) posted Thursday in docket 337-TA-1201. Lord is running the ITC’s Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Sharp allegations that Vizio, its panel maker Xianyang CaiHong Optoelectronics, and TV set assembler TPV infringe five Sharp LCD patents (see 2005210041). The ITC picked Webex Meeting as its videoconferencing platform for Section 337 hearings and conferences “involving confidential business information,” said a July 20 update to its COVID-19 procedures. It’s working as quickly as possible to implement the software, but use of the technology will be at the discretion of individual ALJs, it said. “I'm not sure that I will conduct a virtual hearing in every case,” Lord told the attorneys. “We have had to make some significant adjustments at the ITC in the way we do business,” she said. “We have to assume that we're not going to have a live hearing, and we may not have a hearing procedure that's anything like what we're used to.” ALJs and ITC staff “are all trying really hard to make these investigations work,” she said. “I think so far we have been succeeding pretty well.” As issues arise due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “we will deal with them,” said the ALJ. “It's impossible to foresee what may happen at this point.”