According to Foss Patent Blog, ITC judge issues preliminary ruling on Apple v. Samsung case six days ahead of schedule. I think this case is a good indicator on the flexibility and efficiency of ITC cases.
In December 2012, a federal judge denied Apple a permanent injunction against Samsung despite multiple findings of infringement at a trial held last summer in the Northern District of California. Apple is appealing that denial, but it shifts to the ITC investigation the find the opportunity to obtain injunction against Samsung in the U.S.
The complaint filed by Apple is responded by ITC Judge Pender, who set the target date for the further process and said his remand determination would issue no later than April 1, 2013. He actually filed it six calendar days ahead of schedule on March 25, 2013. Although this does not move up the target date for the final Commission decision, which is still August 1, 2013, it shows ITC is more flexible and efficient comparing to general courts. However, I found that even Judge Pender had handed down his initial determination in October 2012 and held Samsung to infringe four Apple patents, the time to let the Commission to make the final decision may be enough for Samsung to workaround its products to avoid further products infringement of other Apple patents filing to ITC in the mean time. Even so, if the judge approves a workaround, the decision is based exclusively on whether the workaround falls outside the legal scope of the relevant patent, and unrelated to commercial considerations.
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