In the Matter of Certain Smart Wearable Devices, Systems, and Components Thereof (Inv. No. 337-TA-1468)

Analysis Group was retained by Mayer Brown on behalf of Ouraring Inc. (Oura), a smart ring developer and complainant in a Section 337 investigation before the US International Trade Commission (ITC), to analyze the economic prong of the domestic industry requirement, commercial success, remedy, and bond. Oura alleged that competing smart ring suppliers imported and sold products that infringed three of its patents, and it sought to demonstrate the existence of a domestic industry based on its US investments in certain smart rings and their companion smartphone application.

An Analysis Group team led by Vice President David Maber supported Managing Principal John Jarosz, who submitted an expert report in support of Oura’s unopposed motion for summary determination. To estimate Oura’s US investments attributable to the domestic industry products for each asserted patent, Mr. Jarosz developed an allocation methodology using employee estimates of time spent across products. He applied the resulting allocation factors to Oura’s US accounting, headcount, and payroll data to quantify the investments and employment attributable to the relevant domestic industry products on a patent-by-patent basis. To place the significance of these domestic investments and employment in context, Mr. Jarosz compared them against Oura’s worldwide lease portfolio, equipment expenditures, payroll, headcount, and profit-and-loss information.

An administrative law judge (ALJ) granted Oura’s unopposed motion for summary determination, finding that Oura had satisfied the economic prong of the domestic industry requirement for each asserted patent. The ALJ found Mr. Jarosz’s allocation methodology reasonable and determined that Oura’s US investments constituted significant investment in plant and equipment and significant employment of labor and capital under Section 337.