II. FACTUAL ASPECTS

(i) Section 337

2.1 This Section describes relevant United States legislation and practice as at the time of the Council decision to establish the Panel in October 1987. Section 337 has been amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. The same Act also amended the protection accorded under United States patent law in respect of products produced by a process patented in the United States. The main changes are summarised at Annex II of this report.

2.2 Under Section 337 of the United States Tariff Act of 1930 unfair methods of competition and unfair acts in the importation of articles into the United States, or in their sale, are unlawful if these unfair acts or methods of competition have the effect or tendency to (i) destroy or to substantially injure an industry efficiently and economically operated in the United States, (ii) prevent the establishment of such an industry, or (iii) restrain or monopolise trade and commerce in the United States. The unfair acts and methods of competition in question include the importation or sale of goods that infringe valid United States patents. Section 337a specifically applies Section 337 to the importation or sale of products produced abroad by a process covered by a United States patent. Since it was revised in the Trade Act of 1974, the majority of investigations under the Section 337 have concerned alleged infringements of patents. The text of Section 337 as of October 1987 is reproduced at Annex I to this report.

2.3 Remedies available under Section 337, in the event of a violation of the Section, consist of orders excluding the articles concerned from importation into the United States (exclusion orders) and/or cease and desist orders directing parties violating Section 337 to stop the act or method of competition found to be unfair. The exclusion order may be a general order covering all imports that, in a patent-based case, infringe the United States patent in question, or may be limited to goods produced by a respondent in the case…..

http://sice.oas.org/dispute/gatt/87tar337.asp