Garmin didn’t violate federal law by importing products that Pioneer alleged infringed its patents, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled, setting the stage for a possible trial. The ITC earlier said Garmin’s navigation devices didn’t violate Pioneer patents. A separate complaint Garmin filed against Pioneer in February 2010 was stayed pending the outcome of the ITC case. That complaint seeks a declaratory ruling that Garmin products don’t infringe Pioneer’s patents. Pioneer alleged Garmin products infringe three patents granted between 1994 and 2009, including those covering on-vehicle navigation system with an automatic re-initialization function and a system having a user registration function.
The International Trade Administration has initiated administrative reviews of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders below, for certain specified companies listed in the initiation notice.
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation1 of certain protective cases and components thereof, pursuant to a complaint.
The Justice Department announced on June 23, 2011 that a total of seven individuals and five corporate entities based in the U.S., France, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran have been indicted to date for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to illegally export military components for fighter jets and attack helicopters from the U.S. to Iran. The indictments are for alleged violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Iranian Transactions Regulations, etc.
The Supreme Court overturned a Vermont statute that prevented data mining companies from selling patient prescription information to pharmaceutical firms in a 6-3 decision, Thursday. Though Sorrell vs. IMS Health Inc. focused on health care issues, larger privacy implications emerged concerning the extent to which corporations can legally mine customer data. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the six-justice majority that “serious and unresolved” privacy issues remain related to the technological capacity of companies to mine and publish personal information.
The following are details of a June 16, 2011 decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (here) that overturned a lower court ruling and arguments by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the classification of certain “CamelBak” back-mounted packs. CAFC agreed with Camelbak that its packs are made up of two different components and are "composite goods" that should be classified by the essential character test, because the two applicable subheadings refer to only part of the subject articles.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
The International Trade Administration is revoking the antidumping duty orders on hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon-quality steel products (hot-rolled steel) from Brazil and Japan (A-351-828 and A-588-846), and the countervailing duty order on these hot-rolled steel products from Brazil (C-351-829), pursuant to the International Trade Commission's final sunset review determination.
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation1 of certain flip-top vials and products using the same, pursuant to a complaint.
The Center for Environmental Health filed a lawsuit on June 16, 2011 against manufacturers of dozens of shampoos, lotions, toothpastes, and other personal care products sold by national retailers including Target, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Whole Foods and other stores are mislabeled as organic, in violation of California law.