How ITC Is Addressing Its Importation Requirement

A distinguishing aspect of aU.S. International Trade Commissioninvestigation under Section 337 from a district court action is the importation requirement - the accused product must have been imported, or sold for importation, into the U.S.

Specifically, depending on the basis for the alleged violation, the statute requires either unfair acts "in the importation of articles ... into the United States, or in the sale of such articles"¹ or the "importation into the United States, the sale for importation, or the sale within the United States after importation" of an article accused of infringing an intellectual property right.² A well-pled complaint, accordingly, must "[d]escribe specific instances of alleged unlawful importations or sales."³