The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain cigarettes and packaging thereof pursuant to a complaint.
Wireless and wireline carriers are girding for a fight once again over provisions in the latest version of the Senate FTC reauthorization bill that would open the door to more FTC oversight of the telecom industry. A provision in the bill would eliminate the common carrier exception that bars the FTC from overseeing certain activities by telecom common carriers that are regulated by the FCC. While such language has been introduced in past Congresses, this is the first in which Democrats control both the Senate and the House.
The Senate FTC reauthorization bill would grant the agency expanded powers needed to pursue cyber and other criminals and bad actors, commissioners told the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday. Current FTC statutes contain provisions not designed for the Internet age, the commissioners said.
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain variable speed wind turbines and components thereof pursuant to a complaint.
Antigua isn’t satisfied with a preliminary U.S. proposal on resolving a dispute over Internet gambling, we're told. The U.S. Friday presented an outline of a U.S. Trade Representative offer to settle the World Trade Organization dispute and related withdrawal of the General Agreement on Trade in Services concession. The “financial-type” offer is much below the $21 million in annual trade sanctions authorized by the WTO in the original case, the source said. The dispute may not be over even if a settlement is reached, said Michael Waxman of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. The European Trade Barrier Regulation filing is unresolved, he said. European operators say they face bias under international law, he said. Many members of Congress are asking “why we've gone down this path, and whether the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is worth the headache,” he said.
An RIAA theory of copyright infringement without network transfer was rejected by a New York judge hearing a marathon P2P infringement case. The Monday ruling also shot down RIAA citations of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties and the Copyright Office as authorities binding on U.S. copyright law. But the court was otherwise friendly to the trade group. It got permission to refile its complaint and validation against the defendant’s claims that the RIAA’s case failed a new Supreme Court specificity-in-pleading standard.
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain light emitting diodes, laser diodes and products containing same pursuant to a complaint.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a news release announcing that the next phase of the CBP.gov Web site upgrade is to be launched April 4, 2008 and will feature new second-tier feature pages providing better display of information on CBP's major missions of border security, trade and travel, as well as CBP news and career information. This upgrade also will introduce a streamlined menu bar and footers, as well as more photos and graphics.
Charges of patent infringement for blue and violet LEDs and laser diodes will be investigated by the U.S. International Trade Commission. The complaint was filed Feb. 20 by Gertrude Neumark Rothschild of Hartsdale, N.Y., the ITC said. Rothschild, a Columbia University professor, requested exclusion and cease-and-desist orders for products using blue and violet LEDs and laser diodes, like Blu-ray and HD DVD players, data storage devices, hand-held mobile devices, instrument panels, billboards and traffic lights, the ITC said. It referred the investigation to Paul Luckern, an ITC administrative law judge. Prominent CE companies named in the complaint include Hitachi, LG, Lite-On, Matsushita, Pioneer, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba. Matsushita and Sony replied to our query on the case, declining comment because it’s pending litigation.
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain intermediate bulk containers pursuant to a complaint.