February 27, 2026 – In a significant legal development, Insta360 announced today that the nearly two-year-long “Section 337 Investigation” case involving the United States has reached a final ruling. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has upheld its initial decision, finding all six allegations made by GoPro to be unsubstantiated.
Among the six patents asserted by GoPro, five invention patents were determined to either not constitute infringement or to have invalid claims. Only one design patent was found to relate to certain older-generation products. However, as these products are no longer exported to the U.S., and current products utilize new design solutions that have been deemed non-infringing, the ruling has no practical impact on Insta360’s operations.
Insta360 stated that the investigation has not materially affected its business, and its products remain unrestricted for sale in the U.S. market.
Public records indicate that the “Section 337 Investigation” originates from Section 337 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930. It is a trade remedy procedure through which the ITC examines whether imported products infringe on intellectual property rights. If infringement is established, the ITC can issue an exclusion order, barring the infringing products from entering the U.S. market. Due to its fast-paced (trial pace) and severe sanctions, the “Section 337 Investigation” has long been regarded as a major legal hurdle for Chinese companies expanding overseas.
In March 2024, GoPro submitted an unusual “Section 337 Investigation” petition to the ITC. The peculiarity lay in the fact that the defendant list included only one company: Insta360, based in Shenzhen, China. GoPro accused Insta360 of infringing on six core patents, covering areas such as image stabilization algorithms, distortion correction, and product design.
While “Section 337 Investigations” are not uncommon, they typically follow an industry-wide sweep approach, targeting multiple competitors simultaneously. In response, Liu Jingkang, founder of Insta360, remarked in an interview, “We felt a strong sense of malice.” He revealed that the company had incurred over $10 million in legal costs to defend itself, a financial burden that many companies might struggle to bear.
Nevertheless, Liu emphasized that Insta360 has never sought to eliminate its competitors. He attributed the company’s superior market performance compared to GoPro to a combination of well-defined product strategies and the “overwhelming” advantage of China’s supply chain.
