On January 13, 2026, Llinks partner Ms. Cherri Che was invited for an exclusive interview with Shenzhen News Online. During the interview, Ms. Che reviewed Llinks' recent practical experience in helping a Chinese AI eyewear company successfully resolve a U.S. Section 337 investigation crisis and provided an in-depth legal analysis of the upcoming amendments to the Foreign Trade Law.
Practice Review: Resolving the Section 337 Investigation for an AI Eyewear Company
In June 2025, the U.S. company INGENIOSPEC, LLC filed a Section 337 investigation petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging patent infringement by nine Chinese enterprises, including DJI. In handling this case, Llinks partners Ms. Cherri Che, Mr. Alex Huang, and Ms. Candice Du leveraged their extensive experience in patent analysis and cross-jurisdictional coordination to oversee the overall strategy and manage the overseas legal team. By constructing a "Technology-Law-Business" integrated response, the Llinks team successfully assisted one of the AI eyewear companies in reaching a settlement, securing the client's access to the U.S. market and effectively avoiding potential market exclusion risks. Ms. Che noted that the resolution of this case proves once again that in highly globalized industries, intellectual property (IP) has become a "ticket to entry" for international commercial competition.
Professional Insight: The New "Foreign Trade Law" Ushers in the Era of "China's Section 337"
Regarding the Foreign Trade Law set to take effect on March 1, 2026, Ms. Che pointed out that this represents a milestone in the development of China's foreign trade rule of law:
Elevated Governance Dimension: IP issues have been elevated from traditional civil disputes to the level of national foreign trade order and security.
From "Courtroom Outcomes" to "Customs Clearance": If an IP infringement is determined by authorities to "endanger the order of foreign trade," the consequences may no longer be slow litigation and damages, but swift, direct trade control measures, such as the restriction or prohibition of imports and exports.
Establishment of a Proactive Defense System: The new mechanism grants China the ability to proactively regulate and clean up domestic market order, helping to reinforce supply chain security and resilience, and providing a more reciprocal and proactive position in future international rule negotiations.
Practice Guidance: Building Full-Lifecycle IP Capabilities
Facing the dual challenges of "Section 337 investigations abroad and the new Foreign Trade Law at home," Ms. Che suggests that Chinese enterprises must treat IP compliance as the lifeline of their foreign trade business:
Strategic Shift: Move from "legal issues" to "strategic issues." Decision-makers should view IP risk as a top-level strategic risk concerning market access, establishing cross-departmental risk management committees involving R&D, business, and supply chain heads.
Pre-emptive Compliance: Build an integrated "R&D-Patent-Overseas" risk control process. Full-process risk management should be implemented, including Freedom to Operate (FTO) scans at the project initiation stage and design-around plans during the product design phase.
Contractual Review: Guard against "order-related risks" in partnership networks. Under the new law, enterprises must systematically review agreements with upstream/downstream partners and competitors to strictly control unfair clauses (such as non-challenge clauses) that could be deemed harmful to the trade order.
Leveraging Mechanisms: Utilize public resources to maintain competitive order. Enterprises should actively monitor overseas early-warning and legal aid resources, and utilize the complaint mechanisms provided by the new law to protect their legitimate rights against infringing imports that disrupt the domestic market.
Llinks will continue to deepen its expertise in complex cross-border IP and dispute resolution. Leveraging our cross-jurisdictional practical experience and global perspective, we are dedicated to assisting Chinese enterprises in building proactive, systematic defense capabilities amid evolving international trade rules, ensuring they remain resilient in highly globalized commercial competition.
