ITC Finds Section 337 Violation by Klein Tools on Two Milwaukee and Keter Patents, 337-TA-1409.

What the Commission decided

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted on September 29, 2026 to find a violation of section 337 in Certain Storage Containers and Toolboxes, Organizers, Component Boxes, and Coolers, Inv. No. 337-TA-1409, as to U.S. Patent Nos. 11,365,026 (the '026 patent) and 11,794,952 (the '952 patent). The notice issued the same day and was published in the Federal Register on October 2, 2026, at 91 Fed. Reg. 62746. The complainants are Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation and Keter Home and Garden Products Ltd.; the respondent is Klein Tools, Inc.

The Commission issued a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order on those two patents "against Klein prohibiting further importation and sale of covered products," determined that "the public interest factors do not counsel against issuing remedial orders," and set a bond of 18 percent of entered value for covered products imported or sold during Presidential review. The notice does not describe the orders' terms further. It terminates the investigation as to the '026 and '952 patents.

The rulings on review

On January 21, 2026, the Commission took up the final initial determination's (FID's) findings on "the economic prong of the domestic industry requirement, patent invalidity, and the technical prong of the domestic industry requirement, as well as any underlying claim construction findings," and declined to review the rest. It has now (1) set aside "the FID's finding as to date of the Auer Catalog," but otherwise affirmed that Klein "failed to show by clear and convincing evidence that any asserted claim was invalid"; (2) vacated the FID's alternative reasoning that the technical prong would be satisfied even under Klein's claim construction proposal for "rib extending [away] from the back wall," but otherwise affirmed that the technical prong is satisfied for each asserted claim; and (3) affirmed "under modified reasoning" that the economic prong is satisfied under subsection 337(a)(3)(B) as to the '026 and '952 patents.

The notice does not state the modified reasoning, which it leaves to a Commission opinion "issued concurrently with this notice." Its economic-prong ruling names only subsection (a)(3)(B). The FID had found the requirement met under subsections (a)(3)(A) and (B) and declined to make findings under (a)(3)(C).

The January review notice had asked about Keter's foreign manufacturing of Milwaukee-branded domestic industry articles; Milwaukee's Cookeville and Olive Branch facilities; whether, under a holistic approach consistent with Wuhan Healthgen Biotechnology Corp. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n, 127 F.4th 1334 (Fed. Cir. 2025), a complainant must compare its domestic investments to its foreign manufacturing costs; subsection (a)(3)(C); and "whether and how the date of the 3|2015 catalog (RX-0183) affects the FID's finding that Klein failed to demonstrate that the Auer system is prior art." The final notice does not otherwise address them.

The patents and claims

All three asserted patents are titled "Utility assembly and coupling mechanism." The '026 patent issued June 21, 2022, the '952 patent on October 24, 2023, and U.S. Patent No. 11,952,167 (the '167 patent) on April 9, 2024. After withdrawals, the asserted claims are claims 4 and 8 of the '026 patent; claims 3, 4, 8, and 16 of the '952 patent; and claims 2, 5, 8, 14, and 15 of the '167 patent. The FID found all of them infringed and not invalid.

The '167 patent

The Commission "has not reached a final determination with respect to the '167 patent," which "remains pending at the Commission." The notice does not explain why.

How the case got here

The complaint was filed June 13, 2024, and the Commission instituted the investigation on July 19, 2024. The Chief Administrative Law Judge issued the FID on August 1, 2025, with a recommended determination proposing a limited exclusion order, a cease and desist order against Klein, and a 63 percent bond. Klein petitioned for review on August 15, 2025 on the economic and technical domestic industry prongs and on invalidity based on certain prior art. No one responded to the Commission's August 7, 2025 public interest notice, and only the parties filed submissions on review, in February 2026.

Inv. No. 337-TA-1442, in which Klein Tools is the complainant and Milwaukee is the respondent, is a separate investigation.

Why it matters

The Commission set the bond at 18 percent of entered value, not the 63 percent the recommended determination proposed. The result is also split: orders on two patents now, the third still pending.

What to watch next

Under 19 U.S.C. 1337(j), the determination and orders have no force or effect if, before the close of a 60-day period beginning the day after the President receives the determination, the President "for policy reasons" disapproves it and notifies the Commission. The January notice says the U.S. Trade Representative, as delegated by the President, has 60 days to approve, disapprove, or take no action. Meanwhile, covered products may be imported or sold under the 18 percent bond. The notice does not say when the President received the determination.

Absent disapproval, the determination becomes final the day after that period closes (or when the President notifies the Commission of approval), the bond may then be forfeited to the complainant, and under 19 U.S.C. 1337(c) a person adversely affected may appeal to the Federal Circuit within 60 days after the determination becomes final.

Watch for the '167 determination; the extended target date is November 2, 2026, and a settlement or withdrawal could end that part of the case first.