Bose Corporation filed a complaint July 25 with the International Trade Commission seeking an exclusion order banning imports of noise-canceling headphones from Beats Electronics that allegedly infringe Bose’s patents. Bose says the headphones, which are variously manufactured and imported by Beats in the U.S. and Ireland, PCH International in Ireland, and Fugang Electronic (Dong Guan) Co. in China, copy its patented technology related to the generation of a sound to interfere with unwanted noise and cancel it out. It is seeking limited exclusion orders and cease and desist orders against the four proposed respondents. The ITC asked for comments by Aug. 8 on public interest factors raised by the complaint (here).
The Commerce Department published notices in the July 31 Federal Register on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission began a five-year sunset review of the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on kitchen appliance shelving and racks from China (A-570-941/C-570-942).
The Commerce Department announced the opportunity to request administrative reviews by Sept. 1 for producers and exporters subject to 24 antidumping duty orders and six countervailing duty orders with August anniversary dates.
Fan blade assemblies imported by SPX Cooling that are meant to be installed in cooling towers are finished subassemblies and aren’t subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-967/C-570-968), said the Commerce Department in a scope ruling issued July 25. As subassemblies, the fan blade assemblies can qualify for the exemption from AD/CV duties for finished goods, it said.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on chlorinated isocyanurates from Spain (A-469-814). Commerce continued to find the only respondent, Ercros, S.A., had no shipments of subject merchandise to the U.S. during the period of review. As such, Ercros' AD cash deposit rate will remain at zero percent, the rate set for the company in the most recent prior administrative review (see 13120213).
On July 30 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
The Food and Drug Administration set potential fiscal year 2015 fees for import reinspections, domestic and foreign facility reinspections, and recall activities performed by FDA if a firm fails to comply with a mandatory recall order, though it still isn't invoicing for services associated with the fees. The agency set FY 2015 fees of $217/hour for domestic services and $305/hour if foreign travel is required. Last year, the agency set FY 2014 at $237/hour and $302/hour, respectively. The fees are effective Oct. 1.
On July 29-30 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes July 30 to Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables, and flowers.