Five men accused of importing and peddling fake perfumes face several charges, said ICE in a news release (here). Among other charges, Patrick Badal, Kaium Shah, Kenny Ni, Abul Kashem, and Parvez Shazzed "are each charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison," said ICE. The conspirators "allegedly imported generic liquid fragrances from China, separately imported boxes and packaging bearing counterfeit trademarks from China, packaged the generic liquid fragrances into the branded and trademarked packaging, and then sold counterfeit perfumes to wholesalers in New York and at least six other states," said ICE.

A chemical imported by Chemtall is not an amide, but is instead a derivative of an amide, even though it underwent no process to transform it from an amide, said the Court of International Trade in a decision issued May 25 (here). Chemtall had originally classified its acrylamide tertiary butyl sulfonic acid (ATBS) as an amide under subheading 2924.19.11, dutiable at 3.7%. CBP disagreed, classifying it as a derivative of an amide under subheading 2924.19.80, which has a 6.5% duty rate. The court agreed that the chemical is not an amide because, according to the Explanatory Notes, amides include only an amide functional group and some combination of hydrogen groups and aryl or alkyl radicals. ATBS includes a substituted hydrocarbyl as one component, partly made of sulfur. Chemtall argued its ATBS is not a processed form of amide, and therefore cannot be a “derivative of an amide,” but CIT said “derivative” refers to a compound structurally related to another compound, not solely a compound chemically produced from another compound. “Here, ATBS is a derivative of acrylamide because they share the same chemical structure except for the [hydrocarbyl compound].”

​The following appeals of Court of International Trade decisions were filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit during the week of May 16-22:

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 9-15:

Hongwei Du pleaded guilty in a San Diego federal court to conspiring to traffic counterfeit goods and money laundering, said ICE in a May 12 news release (here). Du "admitted he coordinated the shipments of the Chinese-made counterfeit products in a manner designed to prevent customs officers from detecting them" and faces up to 25 years in prison, said ICE. He also faces a maximum fine of $750,000 and agreed to forfeit the $1.5 million. Du sold the counterfeit Chinese cell phone parts to "supply orders from 'Flexqueen.com,' a former business housed in a Calexico residence that sold millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit Apple and Samsung cell phone components over the Internet," the agency said.

Five non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) and freight forwarders have paid a combined $840,000 to settle unrelated Shipping Act violations, said the Federal Maritime Commission on May 12 (here). Hecny Shipping and American Global Logistics, two NVOCCs based in Hong Kong and Atlanta, respectively, as well as the Jamaica, N.Y. NVOCC and freight forwarder Razor Enterprises, are settling charges that they obtained ocean transportation at less than applicable rates by misrepresenting the shippers of cargo, and also provided transportation to their customers at rates not in accordance with their tariffs. Round the World Logistics and Walker International Transportation, both freight forwarders and NVOCCs based in Dallas and Valley Stream, N.Y., respectively, paid to settle charges that they obtained ocean transportation at less than applicable rates, said the FMC. None of the companies admitted to the violations under the settlements.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 2-8:

ICE officials in Chicago recently seized nearly 60 tons of honey worth over $200,000 after concluding it was falsely declared as originating in Vietnam in order to evade antidumping duties on honey from China, it said in a press release (here). A domestic honey packer had notified ICE that it suspected private lab reports associated with the honey shipment had been altered, said ICE. A sample of the shipment was sent to the CBP lab in Savannah, which determined the honey had a 99 percent chance of originating in China. The investigation continues to determine who altered the private laboratory reports, said ICE. The agency has “stepped up its efforts regarding commercial fraud investigations that focus on U.S. economic, and health and safety interests,” it said.

The Supreme Court agreed to review lower court decisions on whether copyright protections extend to features of articles that aren't otherwise protected by copyright law, the court said on May 2 (here). The case "involves the most vexing, unresolved question in copyright law: how to determine whether a feature of a useful article -- such as a garment or piece of furniture -- is conceptually separable from the article and thus protectable," said the lawyers for Star Athletica, which sought Supreme Court review, in its petition (here). Copyright law prohibits copyrights of a "useful article,” such as chairs, dresses, or uniforms, said the petition. "The article’s component features or elements cannot be copyrighted either, unless capable of being 'identified separately from, and . . . existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article.'" The case involves Star and Varsity Brands and whether Varsity should be allowed to "assert copyright in the stripes, chevrons, and color blocks incorporated into a cheerleader uniform because these features are purely aesthetic," said Star.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 25 - May 1: