Ars technica reports on the role of the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in the patent wars. Essentially it is much easier (and quicker) to get "exclusion orders" (effectively injunctions) against "infringing" products via the ITC. "Exclusion orders have proven particularly popular with patent trolls. The eBay [v. MercExchange] standard asks whether the patent holder has suffered an "irreparable injury" due to infringement, and whether an injunction is necessary to repair that injury. Ordinary technology companies can often satisfy this standard. But it's much harder for "non-practicing entities"—patent trolls—to do so, since they can't argue their own products have been hurt by unfair competition. The standard for obtaining exclusion orders is easier for patent trolls to satisfy, however; unsurprisingly, they have accounted for a growing share of the ITC's Section 337 cases."

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