In an unusual order recently issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the ITC vacated an ALJ’s Final Initial Determination (ID) on sub-prongs (A) and (B) of the economic prong of the domestic industry requirement, finding error in his decision to exclude investments made prior to issuance of the asserted patents. In Certain Oil Vaporizing Devices, Components Thereof, and Products Containing the Same, the ALJ had found infringement, validity, and satisfaction of the technical prong, but he recommended no exclusion order solely because certain of the complainant’s investments under sub-prongs (A) and (B) were incurred prior to the issue date of the asserted patents. See Inv. No. 337-TA-1392, Comm’n Order at 2 (May 16, 2025). That decision broke from over a decade of precedent, the ITC’s order explained.

Given the recent changes the Trump Administration has made at the Department of Justice (DOJ), many people have wondered when a formal change to the DOJ’s white-collar prosecution policies, particularly the corporate self-disclosure policy, might come. During remarks at a Financial Crimes Conference on May 12, Matthew Galeotti, the new Head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, announced some of the changes to the DOJ’s policies, starting with the new commitment to be less “heavy-handed with the stick, and [less] stingy with the carrot.”