Finnegan knocks down general exclusion order for floor panels

Patent owner Mohawk filed an ITC complaint asserting that multiple foreign manufacturers and distributors, as well as domestic importers and sellers were importing and selling infringing designer vinyl floor tile panels with specific interlocking assembly features and material characteristics that allegedly infringed three Mohawk patents. After an evidentiary hearing, the ITC issued a general exclusion order, banning importation of all panels that infringe the three asserted patents, even if their manufacturer was not a respondent in the ITC investigation.

VILOX is a developer and licensor of click technology that can be used in various products, including vinyl floor panels. Neither VILOX nor any of its licensees was a respondent in the investigation. Due to the general exclusion order, however, VILOX licensee products were being stopped by CBP and refused entry into the U.S. To protect its licensees’ continued right to import certain types of vinyl floor panels that did not infringe the three patents supporting the general exclusion order, VILOX retained Finnegan to prepare and submit a formal request for an administrative ruling under 19 C.F.R. Part 177, seeking confirmation that Vilox’s licensees’ products do not infringe the asserted patents, and importation of those tiles would not violate the general exclusion order. After multiple submissions by VILOX and Mohawk, CBP ruled in VILOX’s favor, determining that the vinyl floor panels at issue do not infringe the three Mohawk patents and can be imported into the United States.