The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) issued an order in July 2016 to require Indian Viraj Profiles Limited (Viraj) to stop importing, promoting and selling its stainless steel products in the US market for a period of 16.7 years, but Viraj appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) against ITC’s order.

Federal Circuit announced to side with ITC's order this week. The banned stainless steel products included semi-finished steel, wire, wire rod, angle steel, bar, fastener and flange, and this order also applied to all Viraj- manufactured stainless steel products sold by other companies.

This case was caused from an accusation brought by Valbruna Stainless, one of stainless steel products manufacturers in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that Viraj induced an ex-employee to steal Valbruna’s trade secrets and customer lists from Acciaierie Valbruna in Vicenza, Italy.