Motorola Mobility appealed an Aug. 29 International Trade Commission determination of no violation of Section 337 by imports of Apple iPhones. In its determination, the ITC also decided to further consider an aspect of the administrative law judge’s initial determination in the investigation of certain wireless communication devices, portable music and data processing devices, computers and components thereof (337-TA-745). The case is one of two highlighted by the Federal Trade Commission in comments against issuance of exclusion orders in favor of standard essential patents. Motorola Mobility is owned by Google.

The 17th Judicial Conference of the Court of International Trade will be Dec. 3 at the in Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York, N.Y., CIT said. Morning breakout sessions will include “Overzealous and Less than Zealous Representation: The Ethical Risks of Playing the Waiting Game,” and “Will the Real Country of Origin Please Stand Up?” In the afternoon, breakout sessions will cover “Getting to Judgment and Beyond: Challenges in Customs Litigation,” and “Next Frontier in Trade Remedy Litigation: Point/Counterpoint.” CIT Chief Judge Donald Pogue will give opening and closing remarks. The agenda for the conference is available here. The registration form is available here.

In a challenge of the effective date of a partial revocation for certain types of nails that resulted from a changed circumstances review of the antidumping duty order on certain steel nails from China (A-570-909), the Court of International Trade denied plaintiff Itochu’s motion for an earlier effective date because it didn’t exhaust its administrative remedies. Although Itochu, a U.S. importer of nails from China, argued for the earlier effective date before the preliminary determination was issued, it did not file comments on the preliminary determination itself.

The Court of International Trade remanded the final results of the 2009-10 antidumping administrative review of wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-552-802) for several reasons, including the International Trade Administration’s use of surrogate values, wage rate calculations, financial statements, decision not to calculate combination AD rates, and zeroing.

In a dispute between Customs and the CIBA VISION Corp. over the correct Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification of a polymer solution used in the manufacture of daily disposable soft contact lenses, CIT denied motions for judgment by both CIBA and CBP because neither party had established the definition of “polyvinyl alcohol,” a term central to classification of the product.

The Court of International Trade remanded the final results of the 2008-10 antidumping administrative review of steel threaded rod from China (A-570-932) in order for the International Trade Administration to reconsider its rescission of the review with respect to Gem Year and placement of Gem Year in the China-wide entity. The ITA said Gem Year had no entries for which liquidation was suspended to review, ignoring Gem Year’s entries of subject merchandise that had been liquidated due to an error by an unaffiliated importer. But CIT said the ITA’s position that liquidated entries are unreviewable is unjustified by the statute and the regulations, because both only refer to “entries.”

A Japanese freight forwarding company agreed to plead guilty and pay a $2.3 million criminal fine for a conspiracy to fix fees for provision of freight forwarding services for air cargo shipments from Japan to the U.S., the Department of Justice said. It's the 14th company to agree to plead guilty as a result of the investigation, and to pay more than $100 million in criminal fines, DoJ said.

Norriseal, a division of Dover Energy, will pay a penalty of $22,000 as part of a settlement of anti-boycott charges by the Bureau of Industry and Security. According to the BIS order, Norriseal, a Texas-based manufacturer of valves and controls, furnished information concerning its business relationships in a boycotted country and failed to report boycott requests to BIS. Norriseal voluntarily disclosed the information to BIS, and the terms of the agreement did not include an admission of guilt by the company.

The Court of International Trade affirmed the countervailing duty rate determined for Yama Ribbons and Bows in the International Trade Administration’s final determination from the CV duty investigation of certain narrow woven ribbons with woven selvedge from China (C-570-953).

A New York City couple pleaded guilty to conspiring to import misclassified merchandise in a scheme to import and sell counterfeit Nike sneakers, said Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. ICE alleged that Ling Zhen Hu, 51, worked for an individual who imported thousands of pairs of sneakers from China that bore the Nike “swoosh” logo and Nike labeling, but were not genuine Nike sneakers. Hu then negotiated the sale of large quantities of the mislabeled sneakers to a Montreal man, Malik Bazzi, who then sold them to customers throughout the U.S. via his warehouses in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Hu’s husband, Xiao Cheng Lin, 50, delivered the sneakers to Bazzi, ICE said. According to ICE, the investigation revealed that Bazzi’s customers then sold the counterfeit Nike sneakers on the street and in retail stores for about half the price of genuine Nike sneakers.