The International Trade Commission should exercise caution when issuing exclusion orders related to standard-essential patents when the holder has entered into certain types of licensing agreements, said the Patent and Trademark Office and Department of Justice in a joint letter to the ITC. When the patent holder has agreed to license a standard essential patent on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms or fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, the patent case could be an attempt at asserting market power by forcing the respondent to accept stricter terms than those available to other licensees, they said.
On Jan. 9 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
On Jan. 9 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Jan. 10:
The Court of International Trade agreed to a request by the International Trade Administration to expand a remand of the 2009-10 antidumping administrative review of frozen warmwater shrimp from China (A-570-893) to address recent fraud allegations. The final results of the proceeding were originally remanded Nov. 30 for the ITA to better explain its selection of India as the surrogate country to value inputs used by Hilltop International during the review. After receiving a request for changed circumstances review that alleged fraud by Hilltop during the proceeding, the ITA asked CIT to broaden the remand’s scope. The ITA did not disclose the fraud allegations in this case, and Hilltop argued it was required to in order to have the scope expanded. The court, however, found it sufficient that there was no evidence the ITA’s request was made in bad faith.
A British businessman was sentenced to 33 months in prison for attempting to export to Iran a special component of the Hawk Air Defense Missile, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In addition to his prison sentence, Christopher Tappin must also pay an $11,357.14 fine. Tappin reversed his original not guilty plea Nov. 1, admitting his guilt to aiding and abetting the illegal export of defense articles, and waiving his right to appeal his conviction or challenge the sentence handed down.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website Jan. 9, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at addcvd.cbp.gov. (CBP occasionally adds backdated messages without otherwise indicating which message was added. ITT will include a message date in parentheses in such cases.)
NEW YORK -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission will soon vote on whether to propose a rule that would overhaul product certification and testing requirements, said Commissioner Nancy Nord at the annual meeting of the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel Jan. 9. The rule would require electronic filing of CPSC compliance certificates along with other entry documents, and add new required data elements, she said. It would also require the manufacturer or labeler to file the compliance certificate if the product is directly received by a consumer.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the Jan. 9 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):
Innovation First filed a Section 337 complaint with the International Trade Commission Jan. 4, alleging that robotic toy fish sold by CVS Pharmacy after import from China infringe its trade secrets. According to the complaint, entitled certain robotic toys and components thereof, a former Chinese employee of Innovation First developed the technologies covered by the trade secrets. The employee then left the company, and in violation of the terms of his separation agreement shared the secrets with his new employer, Zuru. CVS Pharmacy is violating Section 337 by importing the infringing products from Zuru for sale in the U.S. Innovation First is requesting a limited exclusion and cease and desist order against CVS Pharmacy.