University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository
Abstract
Unlike Section 271 of the Patent Act of 1952, [s]ection 337 is a trade law which is not necessarily limited by the principles of domestic patent law. When examined more closely, Section 337 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930 in effect provides a patentee more protection from infringing foreign activity than Section 271. Accordingly, in many situations involving foreign acts, it may be more advantageous to enforce a U.S. patent at the International Trade Commission ( Commission ) as opposed to a federal district court. The analysis discussed infra more closely examines those situations and provides the history behind the intended reach of each statute
