International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 21-25 in case they were missed.
BitTorrent indexing sites, cyberlockers and online forums were identified as notorious markets in comments on an out-of-cycle review by the U.S. Trade Representative. Comments in docket USTR-2013-0030 were due Monday (WID Oct 2 p15).
A draft FCC declaratory ruling that could lead to increased foreign ownership of broadcasters has support from all three commissioners and is likely to arrive for a vote at the Nov. 14 open meeting without alterations to its basic thrust, said an FCC official and several broadcast attorneys in interviews Friday. The declaratory ruling would clarify the commission’s rules that transactions that would result in foreign ownership of more than 25 percent of a broadcaster would be approved on a case-by-case basis. Though this was always the case under the Communications Act, industry officials told us it’s been long understood that such waivers would not be granted (CD Oct 25 p5), and the proposed ruling would explicitly reverse that. The ruling “is really a matter of the FCC exercising the authority they already have,” said Davis Wright broadcast attorney David Silverman, who represents Alaskan broadcasters who support the clarification.
Patent industry stakeholders should “stay tuned” for a pending U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rulemaking on the filing and disclosure of real-party-in-interest (RPI) patent ownership information, acting PTO Director Teresa Stanek Rea said Thursday. PTO is conducting the rulemaking process as part of its implementation of President Barack Obama’s set of executive actions to combat abusive patent litigation. The set of actions tasks PTO with creating rules that will require patent applicants and owners to regularly update ownership on file at PTO when they are involved in proceedings with the agency (CD June 5 p6).
Patent industry stakeholders should “stay tuned” for a pending U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rulemaking on the filing and disclosure of real-party-in-interest (RPI) patent ownership information, acting PTO Director Teresa Stanek Rea said Thursday. PTO is conducting the rulemaking process as part of its implementation of President Barack Obama’s set of executive actions to combat abusive patent litigation. The set of actions tasks PTO with creating rules that will require patent applicants and owners to regularly update ownership on file at PTO when they are involved in proceedings with the agency (CED June 5 p3).
Patent industry stakeholders should “stay tuned” for a pending U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rulemaking on the filing and disclosure of real-party-in-interest (RPI) patent ownership information, acting PTO Director Teresa Stanek Rea said Thursday. PTO is conducting the rulemaking process as part of its implementation of President Barack Obama’s set of executive actions to combat abusive patent litigation. The set of actions tasks PTO with creating rules that will require patent applicants and owners to regularly update ownership on file at PTO when they are involved in proceedings with the agency (WID June 5 p1).
Best Key will file a challenge with the Court of International Trade over a CBP ruling that the textile company says the agency is using to revise its definition of "metalized" yarns, said John Peterson, a lawyer with Neville Peterson that is representing Best Key. CBP published two notices of revocation of rulings and treatment regarding "Johnny Collar" pullovers and polyester monofilament yarn in the Oct. 2 issue of the CustomsBulletin (Vol. 47, No. 41). CBP made the rulings despite claims from Best Key that agency laboratory personnel inappropriately disregarded previous ruling precedent (see 13061418).
The Commerce Department is asking for comments on its withdrawal of regulations on “targeted dumping,” after the Court of International Trade in June 2013 found that withdrawal to be illegal. Commerce had decided to stop applying its “limiting rule” in antidumping proceedings in 2008. But in June 2013, the Court of International Trade found the agency didn’t allow for a notice and comment period, as required, and said the old regulations remain in effect. In response, Commerce is now issuing a proposed rule that would continue not to apply the former targeted dumping rule, and is asking for comments on the issue by Oct. 31.
"CBP revenue collections" will be among the Department of Homeland Security operations that will be exempt from an all-out agency stoppage in the event of a government shutdown Oct. 1, said a Sept. 27 detailed contingency plan issued by DHS.
The Court of International Trade sustained remand results in the case of SeAH Steel Corp. and Kurt Orban Partners vs the U.S., and entered its judgment accordingly, it said in a Sept. 25 decision. It said no party intends to file comments on the remand results. SeAH is a Korean producer and exporter of circular welded non-alloy steel pipe and Kurt Orban is a U.S. importer of the same merchandise. They had contested the Final Results of the Department of Commerce's 17th administrative review of the antidumping duty order for such pipe from Korea.