ITC Commissioner Recusing Herself From Section 337 Probe Against Lenovo

Commissioner Rhonda Schmidtlein recused herself and her staff from participating in the International Trade Commission’s Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Nokia’s complaint that Lenovo computers, tablets and components infringe four H.264 video compression patents and one on user interfaces, said a notice (login required) posted Tuesday in docket 337-TA-1208. Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord set a Dec. 10, 2021, target date for completing the investigation, said her order (login required) Tuesday. Schmidtlein also disqualified herself from the Section 337 probe into Sonos allegations that Google devices infringe five multiroom audio patents (see 2003050020). In both recusals, she gave no reason for disqualifying herself. The agency didn’t comment.