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:
Z Gallerie, an upscale furniture retailer, agreed to pay $15 million to the U.S. government as part of a settlement related to allegations of antidumping duty evasion, said the Justice Department in a news release (here). Z Gallerie, which sells furniture in stores and over the Internet, allegedly "engaged in a scheme to evade customs duties on imports" of wooden bedroom furniture from China, in violation of the False Claims Act," said DOJ. As an example of the alleged fraud, the DOJ said the company "sold certain Bassett Mirror Company products, including a six-drawer dresser and three-drawer chest, as part of a bedroom collection; however, these goods were misidentified on CBP documents, using descriptions such as 'grand chests' and 'hall chests,' in order to avoid paying antidumping duties on wooden bedroom furniture." Such settlements are likely to increase as "streamlined processes" for duty evasion allegations take effect a result of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, said CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske. The allegations originally came from Kelly Wells, an e-commerce furniture retailer, who will receive $2.4 million of the settlement under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, said DOJ. "The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability," DOJ said.
The Federal Register notice announcing the beginning of antidumping and countervailing duty administrative reviews serves as notice to foreign exporters that they are included and must participate to avoid high rates, said the Court of International Trade in a decision issued April 21 (here). A Chinese company, Suntec, had challenged the final results of a review where Commerce assigned it the high “China-wide” rate of over 100 percent because Suntec did not submit the required application for a “separate rate.” Suntec claimed it never received the required notice when a domestic company requested the review, and consequently didn’t know it was under review until after the final results were issued. However, the separate rate application was due after the Federal Register initiation notice, so even with the missing notification from the domestic company Suntec should have known it was listed and required to submit the application, said CIT.