Section 337 Investigations: What Foreign Brands With Chinese Suppliers Should Know

On 9 October 2026 the US International Trade Commission (USITC) instituted investigation 337-TA-1526, brought by Vicor Corporation over vertical power delivery for AI servers. The 20 respondent entities include Luxshare, Foxconn and Quanta (news). Institution is not a finding of infringement, but a Section 337 case decides whether products can enter the US at all. That matters to foreign brands in two ways: products made for you in China can be caught by an exclusion order aimed at your supplier, and a registered US trademark or patent can be used to keep counterfeits out of the US. This guide explains how Section 337 works and what to do at each end. It describes general rules; check current USITC rules and US counsel for a specific case.

What Section 337 is

Section 337 of the US Tariff Act of 1930 lets the USITC, a quasi-judicial agency, investigate unfair acts in the importation of goods into the US, most often IP infringement. The target is the imported product, so overseas manufacturers, exporters and US importers can all be named as respondents.

Which rights it covers

• Statutory IP: US patents (including design patents), registered US trademarks, registered copyrights and mask works. The complainant must show a domestic industry in the US that exists or is being established, but does not need to show injury.
• Other unfair acts: trade secrets, unregistered trademarks or trade dress, false advertising. Here the complainant must also show injury or threat of injury.

Trademarks are often overlooked: products or packaging that use a sign identical or similar to someone else's registered US mark, or copy a product's trade dress, can also be the subject of a 337 case.

Timeline in outline

1. The complainant files with the USITC, which usually decides within about 30 days whether to institute.
2. Within 45 days of institution the Commission sets a target date. Respondents generally have 20 days after service of the complaint and notice of investigation to respond.
3. Discovery is fast; an administrative law judge holds an evidentiary hearing and issues an initial determination.
4. The Commission decides whether to review it and issues a final determination.
5. A 60-day presidential review period follows, during which the goods may be imported under bond.

Investigations typically finish in around 18 months, much faster than US district court patent litigation.

Remedies

• Limited exclusion order: bars the respondents' infringing products from entry, enforced by US Customs and Border Protection.
• General exclusion order: bars infringing products from any source, not just the respondents. It can be used where counterfeit sources are numerous and hard to identify.
• Cease and desist order: stops respondents selling infringing stock already imported.

The USITC does not award damages. A complainant can sue in a federal district court at the same time; for the same patent claims, respondents can ask the district court to stay the case.

If your Chinese supplier is named

1. Check whether your products are affected: an exclusion order covers the infringing products, whoever the brand is. Ask the supplier which models and components are accused.
2. Read your supply contract: who gives IP warranties, who defends, who pays if shipments are stopped.
3. Plan for continuity: alternative components, a redesigned product, or a second supplier. A redesign can be submitted to US Customs for an advance ruling that it falls outside the order.
4. Keep records: design files, supplier communications and shipment history help if you need to show your product differs.

If you want to use Section 337 against counterfeits

• You need a registered US trademark or a US patent for the statutory route, plus a domestic industry in the US.
• Where counterfeits come from many anonymous sellers, a general exclusion order can stop them at the border regardless of source.
• For the Chinese side of the problem, combine this with a Chinese registration and a China Customs recordal, which lets Chinese customs detain infringing exports: see China Customs IP recordal. Marketplace complaints are covered in taking down counterfeits on Chinese platforms.

FAQ

Is a 337 case the same as a lawsuit in a US court? No. The USITC issues exclusion and cease and desist orders, not damages, and moves faster. Both can run in parallel.

Can a Chinese manufacturer that never ships to the US itself be named? Yes, if its products are imported into the US, for example by its customers. Even if it is not named, a general exclusion order can reach its products.

Does a Chinese customs recordal help in a 337 case? No. It works at Chinese ports. Section 337 is a US import procedure; the two are separate and complementary.

J&C Intellectual Property Agency (JCIPO), founded in 2008, is a CNIPA-recorded trademark agency and a member of the China Trademark Association. We handle trademark filings and China Customs recordals for foreign brands; see our trademark search service.