Conclusion first
A pre-export review should be built around U.S. live rights + the final product structure + the import/sales path, rather than a one-time keyword search.
At least six items should be checked
- Relevant U.S. patents and published applications in USPTO databases.
- Legal status and family relationships such as continuations and divisionals.
- Mapping of independent claims to the final product structure.
- Recent newly published or newly granted patents from competing brands.
- Whether the design-around itself creates new patent exposure.
- Whether the category has historical or current Section 337 exposure.
Why Section 337 matters
Section 337 investigations before the U.S. International Trade Commission often involve allegations of intellectual-property infringement by imported products. One important remedy can be an exclusion order preventing covered imports from entering the United States.