The International Trade Administration (ITA) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) have each issued a notice initiating an automatic five-year Sunset Review on the antidumping (AD) duty order for folding gift boxes from China.
A Visa and MasterCard blockout of transactions with AllofMP3.com (WID Oct 20 p9), the dirt-cheap Russian download store, “hasn’t had a significant impact” on business, a lawyer commissioned by the firm to analyze its legal position in Russia and the U.S. said Thurs. in a teleconference. Partially that’s because users are paying with credits purchased on the site before the credit-card clampdown, but Europeans in particular are fond of “alternative financing means” to buy from the site, seen as 2nd behind iTunes for paid downloads worldwide, Chadbourne & Parke lawyer John Kheit said. The site is talking with other credit sources to add payment options, he added. Meanwhile, an International Intellectual Property Assn. (IIPA) lawyer told us AllofMP3’s elaborate legal FAQ (WID Nov 30 p3) was filled with “bizarre readings” of both countries’ laws.
The videogame industry scored its 2nd legal victory this week Wed. as U.S. Dist. Court Judge James Brady, Baton Rouge, ordered a permanent injunction against enforcement of a La. law that would ban the sale of violent videogames to minors, said the Entertainment Software Assn. (ESA).
EchoStar and DirecTV are again battling in the courtroom. EchoStar sued DirecTV in the U.S. Dist. Court, N.Y.C., seeking a ruling that it didn’t infringe trademarks by buying the rights to use expressions similar to “DirecTV” as keywords to trigger links to its own websites.
The U.S. and Russia signed a bilateral trade agreement necessary for Russia’s WTO entry. A U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) spokesman told us the thorny issue of dirt-cheap download store AllofMP3.com will be discussed in multilateral talks, because it affects multiple countries’ copyright industries, although it’s mentioned by name in the bilateral agreement. The countries unveiled an agreement in principle last week, but no specifics (WID Nov 14 p3). “We worked through many difficult issues and the agreement sets the stage for closer cooperation in many commercial areas,” USTR Susan Schwab said. Details from USTR’s fact sheet: (1) Russia will end or refuse new leases for optical disk factories on “restricted military-industrial sites,” inspect licensed plants “day and night” and shut down unlicensed plants, inspect warehouses for pirated goods, and take criminal actions against “commercial scale” pirates. Russia is “working to enact” strong optical disk regulation by June 1. ("Working to enact” is used often in the fact sheet.) (2) The countries agreed “on the objective” of shutting down infringing websites, and named AllofMP3.com as one. Russia will take enforcement actions against Russia-based sites and prosecute companies that infringe. It will also “work to enact” legislation by June to stop royalty collection by societies not authorized by rightsholders -- probably a reference to the Russian Multimedia & Internet Society (ROMS). AllofMP3 said it pays royalties to ROMS, but copyright industries have said it’s not authorized to collect them. Russia intends to carry out the World Intellectual Property Organization Internet treaties as well. (3) Russia will ask its Supreme Court to clarify penalties for intellectual property rights (IPR) crimes, taking into account the “high degree of public harm” from IPR crime and “the objective of preventing future crimes.” It will “significantly increase” export inspections and try to strengthen Customs officials’ authority “to take actions on their own initiative.” (4) Russia plans to fully follow through on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement and other IPR pacts, and plans to amend laws concerning trademarks and remedies. Any legal changes made before WTO entry will “not reduce consistency with key international IPR standards.” (5) USTR and its Russian counterpart will set up a “hotline” to exchange and follow up on antipiracy efforts. Russia also said it had filed more criminal copyright and trademark infringement cases, and secured more copyright convictions, through Sept. than in all of 2005. “We believe that Russia is committed to more aggressive actions before the end of the year” on enforcement, USTR said. On matters besides IPR, Russia will open its telecom services market on a facilities and nonfacilities basis to foreign suppliers and let telecom companies operate though fully foreign owned. It has accepted a WTO telecom paper “establishing an independent regulator,” antitrust and transparency obligations, and interconnection requirements. It will also allow U.S. “audio-visual service suppliers” in sectors like motion picture distribution and the sale of TV and radio programs to stations, and they can operate as 100% foreign-owned.
Congress should require Internet companies in China to protect user information short of “formal legal action” by authorities and report all handovers to the U.S., a congressional commission said Thurs. The annual report by the U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission also urged Congress to press Bush Administration officials to raise media and Internet freedom issues with Chinese counterparts and discourage the govt.’s jailing journalists. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) should quickly file a case against China at the WTO for intellectual property rights (IPR) violations, the report said. USTR told us a case was “very likely” if there isn’t “significant action” by China, but it hedged on the timing for making the call.
According to a recent Textile Development Memo issued by the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA), on October 31, 2006 a U.S. paper producer filed petitions with the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking both antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duties on imports of coated free sheet paper from China, Indonesia, and South Korea. The TDM notes that this is the first CV challenge in 20 years filed against a non-market economy country (China). The TDM further notes that this case may signal prospects for CV duty cases against other Chinese products. (USA-ITA TDM dated 10/31/06, www.usaita.com)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site an Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) frequently asked question (FAQ) document on electronic manifests (e-Manifests).
The International Trade Administration (ITA) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) have issued various notices, each initiating automatic five-year Sunset Reviews on the above-listed antidumping (AD) duty orders.
A federal judge Fri. issued an injunction against Broadcom at Qualcomm’s request in the companies’ multifront war over CDMA technologies. The injunction, by U.S. Dist. Court Judge Rudi Brewster, San Diego, bars Broadcom from using, soliciting or distributing Qualcomm trade secrets, including source code. The companies interpretations of the action varied sharply. Qualcomm claimed a significant victory. Broadcom called the development a negotiated compromise with no effect on its business plan. The ruling’s text wasn’t made public immediately.