Lyle Vander Schaaf

Lyle’s background suits him well to defend clients in ITC Section 337 IP proceedings. On behalf of three small importers, Lyle stood up to the world’s largest manufacturer of bearings and prevailed in the ITC, and then prevailed when the losing party appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and then succeeded in defending against a certiorari  petition in the U.S. Supreme Court. Lyle also has fought against one of the world’s largest heavy equipment manufacturers that sought in the ITC to exclude his small clients’ imports of heavy equipment. His steadfast defense did not diminish all the way to the eve of trial when the opposing party sought settlement on terms acceptable to his clients. Lyle was also fundamental to the defense of the firm’s clients who were in a hard-fought skirmish  against one of their key competitors at the ITC. The clients prevailed on all but one claim of one patent (out of a total of 96 claims in 6 patents) and then designed-around that claim. Lyle’s experience before the ITC helped the clients prevail in an enforcement proceeding at the ITC (the first ever such victory for a respondent), proceedings before U.S. Customs and Border Protection, appeals to the U.S. Court of International Trade and finally in an emergency appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Ultimately, none of the clients’ imports were excluded from the market. More recently, Lyle was key to the success of a client in China that was sued on four separate occasions in the ITC and prevailed in all four cases – and any appeals that ensued in the Federal Circuit. 

Lyle formerly worked in the Office of the General Counsel of the ITC and was detailed for a time to the then-Chairman’s Office and, from this experience, he provides an insider’s perspective to how the ITC will decide a case. Having worked on Section 337 IP proceedings and antidumping/countervailing duty trade proceedings inside the ITC, he now provides his insights as an insider to win cases on behalf of his clients at the ITC. Since leaving the ITC, Lyle has worked on numerous Section 337 proceedings covering patent infringement, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, trade secret misappropriation and other unfair practices in import trade. Since working on a Section 337 proceeding in 1988 as a first-year associate, he has handled over 40 Section 337 proceedings either inside the ITC or in private practice representing clients before the agency. 

Lyle has an in depth understanding of all facets of ITC proceedings, including the Commissioners’ review phase of the ALJ’s initial determination, the Presidential review phase before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the enforcement phase before the ITC, and the customs enforcement phase before U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Throughout his career, Lyle has worked on numerous matters before the USTR, CBP and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC).  He has handled over 25 cases before the U.S. Court of International Trade on customs, IP and international trade matters stemming from decisions of CBP, the DOC or the ITC. He also has argued five cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which presides over all appeals of ITC Section 337 proceedings and all customs and trade appeals from the U.S. Court of International Trade.