GoPro-Insta360 Tussle Over US Imports Shows Design Patent Limits

A US trade agency’s decision to bar imports of certain older Insta360 camera models over a disputed GoPro Inc. design patent is sharpening questions about the practical limits of protecting how products look.

The US International Trade Commission on Thursday issued an order blocking unlicensed imports of some Insta360 cameras after finding they infringe US Patent No. D789,435, which covers the ornamental design shown in GoPro’s patent drawings. The body cleared Insta360 of infringing two GoPro utility patents, leaving GoPro with an import ban tied only to product appearance—not to the stabilization or distortion-processing technology at the heart of ...