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86 J. Pat. & Trademark Off. Soc'y 432 (2004)
Evaluating the International Trade Commission's Section 337 Investigation

handle is hein.journals/jpatos86 and id is 434 raw text is: Evaluating the International Trade Commission's Section 337 Investigation Vivek Koppikar1 I. BACKGROUND As globalization becomes more prevalent in virtually every aspect of the economy, the amount of imported products coming into the United States continues to grow each year. Although many exporters in foreign countries respect intellectual property rights, the amount of imported goods that violate intellectual property, especially patents and trademarks, continues to grow each year. Almost all practitioners are aware that infringers of patents and trademarks can be sued in federal court in order to recover damages from the sale of pirated goods and to impose an injunction on the infringer. However many IP practitioners are not familiar with Section 337 investigations which are conducted by the International Trade Commission (ITC). Section 337 investigations are another avenue for IP holders (e.g. patents, trademarks and copyrights) to pursue to block the sale of pirated goods when they are being imported into the United States. For those holders seeking a quick remedy against foreign infringers, the ITC avenue provides an attractive option over traditional litigation. II. BASICS OF AN ITC SECTION 337 INVESTIGATION The ITC is a quasi-judicial agency created by Congress to monitor and curtail unfair international trade practices. Section 337 (derived from 19 U.S.C. 1337) investigations are one among many other investigations within their jurisdiction. Once a complainant files for an investigation and the ITC determines that the request meets the basic I The author of this article, Vivek Koppikar, is a patent examiner at the US Patent and Trademark Office. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of either the US Patent and Trademark Office or the US International Trade Commission.