Section 337

Described by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine as "a rare and winning combination of trade expertise, a deep bench of technically trained lawyers, adept IP litigators, and an international office network to ensure that all angles are covered," our lawyers have produced successful results in several hundred Section 337 cases for both complainants and respondents.
 
With more than four decades of litigation experience before the International Trade Commission (ITC), the firm has also been ranked as one of the most active law firms before the ITC according to Corporate Counsel magazine.

The strength of Steptoe's trade policy practice, combined with the depth of our Section 337 experience, is what sets our ITC litigation practice apart. This multidisciplinary approach enables our lawyers to recast arguments to make them more useful to the singular requirements of the ITC, and to ITC Commissioners. In cases in which the public interest is considered, our Government Affairs Group can reach out to elected representatives to brief them about the matter at hand. The result? As one example, in a case in which a client had been found liable of violating Section 337, our Section 337 lawyers were assisted by members of our Government Affairs and Commercial Litigation groups in a multi-pronged effort to craft a rebuttal so compelling that the ITC not only reversed the initial ruling, but terminated further proceedings—resulting in a total victory for the client. 

Our esteemed group of Section 337 lawyers have extensive experience with the entire range of unfair import practices including:

• Patent infringement
• Trademark and counterfeiting
• Copyright infringement
• Trade dress and trade secret misappropriation
• False labeling
• Antitrust