The Court of International Trade has ruled in U.S. v. Trek Leather Inc., and Harish Shadadpuri that an importer of record along with its sole shareholder committed gross negligence by consistently failing to include the cost of fabric assists in the price actually paid or payable in their entry documents for men's suits imported into the U.S. The defendants were also found liable for unpaid customs duties and civil penalties, plus interest.
The Supreme Court has affirmed a Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit judgment that Microsoft Corporation willfully infringed a patent held by i4i Limited Partnership and Infrastructures for Information Inc. (collectively i4i), which claims an improved method for editing computer documents.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed the International Trade Commission's final determination that the importation and sale of certain silicon microphone packages by MEMS Technology Berhad (MemsTech) violated section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 USC 1337) by infringing the asserted claims of two patents owned by Knowles Electronics LLC. The patents at issue pertained to microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microphone packages, which are used in a variety of consumer electronic devices, including mobile phones.
For the antidumping duty administrative review of certain pasta from Italy for the period July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007, the Court of International Trade previously granted a request from the International Trade Administration for a voluntary remand to reconsider whether accounting expenses of Italian producer Pasta Zara SpA were direct or indirect expenses. The court also ordered the ITA to reconsider whether all home market sales, whether to independent retailers or large discount chains, were in fact at a single level of trade, as the ITA claimed.
The patent infringement cases brought by Tessera Inc., over alleged infringements of minimized semiconductor chip encapsulation technologies it owns and licenses, met a further setback at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The company ‘s unsuccessful appeal followed determinations by a review panel at the International Trade Commission that for some of the alleged infringements, there was no section 337 violation, and for the remainder, the patent right did not extend to later re-sales.
The Justice Department has announced that the U.S. subsidiary of Belgian pharmaceutical manufacturer UCB SA has pleaded guilty to the off-label promotion of its epilepsy drug Keppra for use in the treatment of migraines, in violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act. UCB will pay more than $34 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising out of its illegal conduct.
A U.S. District Court judge has acquitted a former GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) lawyer, who was indicted for allegedly obstructing the Food and Drug Administration's investigation into whether the company illegally marketed its anti-depressant drug, Wellbutrin SR. The judge stated that certain documents provided in court that otherwise would have been privileged attorney-client documents were incorrectly obtained using the Crime Fraud Exception. The judge ruled that although Stevens' responses to FDA "may not have been perfect," they were "sent to the FDA in the course of her bona fide legal representation of a client and in good faith reliance of both external and internal lawyers for GSK," and therefore, was acquitted. Court document available by emailing documents@brokerpower.com.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Pentalpha Enterprises, Ltd., a subsidiary of Global-Tech Appliances, Inc., willfully blinded itself to the infringing nature of its actions, and is liable for induced patent infringement of a deep fryer invented by SEB S.A. Pentalpha had purchased an SEB fryer made for sale in a foreign market and copied all but the fryer’s cosmetic features. It then had an attorney look for patent infringment (none was found), without telling him that the fryer was copied. Pentalpha sold the fryers to Sunbeam, which resold them in the U.S. under its own trademarks. SEB sued Sunbeam for patent infringement and then sued Pentalpha, asserting that it had contravened 35 USC 271(b) by actively inducing Sunbeam and the other purchasers of Pentalpha fryers to sell or offer to sell them in violation of SEB’s patent rights.
The Food and Drug Administration, in a complaint filed by the Department of Justice, is seeking a permanent injunction against BCS African Wholesale Food Supply LLC (BCS African Wholesale) of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and its principal officers. If granted, the injunction would force the defendants to stop importing, processing, and selling seafood products that can put consumers at risk for botulism or that may present other food safety hazards.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled, in BenQ America Corporation v. U.S., to vacate a Court of International Trade decision to classify certain Dell™ LCD monitors1 as video monitors under HTS 8528 (5%) as opposed to duty-free automatic data processing (ADP) machines under HTS 8471. The CAFC remands the case to the CIT, which CAFC states should conduct a "principal use" analysis of the monitors to determine their correct classification.