Asia Pacific continued to lead global e-commerce in 2015, after taking over the top spot in 2013, said a Euromonitor report Tuesday. Mobile e-commerce sales for the region, comprising 14 economies, grew 113 percent to $200 billion, it said. The report cited increasing demand for convenience in Asia, driven by urbanization, smaller households and an “on-demand culture.” Overall retail sales for the top 500 retailers in the region slipped 5 percent in 2015 to $964 billion, due to the strong U.S. dollar, Euromonitor said.
An International Trade Commission order bans import of some Arista network devices, including routers and switches, that allegedly infringe patents held by Cisco, the ITC said in Wednesday's Federal Register. The commission set no bond while the U.S. Trade Representative conducts its 60-day review on whether to issue a veto of the Tariff Act Section 337 import ban. The ITC issued a limited exclusion order against Arista and ended its investigation into the company. Arista disagrees with the ITC "that we infringe these patents or that they are valid" but respects the order and will "fully comply," CEO Jayshree Ullal wrote customers last week, in a communication provided to us Thursday by an outside company spokesman. "We intend to fully adhere to all ITC legal requirements and all products that are manufactured" in the U.S. will have "design-around versions" of the company's extensible operating system, Ullal wrote. "All international customers are unaffected by ITC orders. Our primary focus is the continued supply and service of non-infringing products."
The Electronic Components Industry Association and other trade groups stopped an industry recommendation from going forward for a Customs and Border Protection pilot program to test a new approach to gray market imports, said the ECIA in a Sunday news release. It said the ECIA, Semiconductor Industry Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed the recommendation during a recent Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Working Group session. Gray market products are imported goods that were intended for sale outside the U.S. The proposed "Known Importer Program" for gray market products "would have established a known importer status for unauthorized sellers to bypass detention and inspection of shipments at the borders," said the ECIA. "The proposal called for trade associations to administer the program by designating which of its members met the program’s criteria for a known importer. The proposal, if it had been adopted, would have set up a pilot program to test the concept for importers of electronic components." The COAC is made up of industry members that make recommendations to CBP, which ultimately decides whether a COAC-endorsed initiative will be taken up. CBP and a co-chair of the COAC Trade Enforcement and Revenue Collection Subcommittee, which the IPR Working Group is part of, didn't comment Tuesday. "This proposal would have seriously impaired the integrity of the authorized distribution channel for electronic components," said Robin Gray, ECIA general counsel. "Our zealous opposition to the proposal was clearly a determining factor in the [IPR working group's] decision not to recommend the program."
Former FCC Chairman William Kennard agrees “no one really knows where [Brexit] ends up (see 1606270075), he said Tuesday. Kennard was U.S. ambassador to the EU. “My best guess at this early stage is that Britain will seek to negotiate a Norwegian-style arrangement with the EU which gives it access to the EU Common Market,” Kennard emailed. He was affiliated with Grain Management, a wireless company. Meanwhile, CTA President Gary Shapiro said Tuesday the Brexit vote was understandable and a potential win for the U.S. “The Brexit vote should be seen for what it is: a correction to an unbalanced, unfair, and unsuccessful system,” Shapiro said in an American Spectator opinion piece. “While the EU succeeded in easing travel and trade within the common market, its imperious Brussels regulators needed a reminder that overregulation stifles growth and harms innovation.” Britain’s economy won’t collapse, he said. “Switzerland and Norway have voted against joining the EU, while strengthening their own trade ties with the common market and maintaining strong currency valuation.” For the U.S., the Brexit vote offers new opportunities, Shapiro said: “The vote creates a chance to strengthen our ‘Special Relationship’ and even formalize a trade agreement with Britain.”
Customs and Border Protection said a Fossil-brand watch that includes Bluetooth wireless connectivity should be classified based on its watch function and not the ability to connect to a smartphone. The decision was announced in a recently released ruling, HQ H268657, dated March 28. "Physical characteristics and wireless functions of the Grant Connect Watch substantially differ from those of other 'smart watches' previously classified by CBP." Users can't view or use the data on the watch itself and "the device is not capable of independently collecting, storing, or processing data when 'unpaired' from a smartphone -- functions that both the Apple Watch and Samsung Gear Live are capable of performing when used in 'paired' and 'unpaired' configurations," CBP said. Wireless features are "limited" and it lacks a "pre-installed mobile operating system," the agency said. Fossil didn't comment.
The International Trade Commission voted to begin a Section 337 Tariff Act investigation into allegations that imports of semiconductor devices made by Broadcom and included in a range of downstream products are infringing patents held by Tessera, the ITC said last week. In its May 23, complaint, Tessera alleged Broadcom is copying its patented designs for chips used in network devices and set-top boxes. It alleged infringing chips are included in devices made by Arista Networks, Arris, Asus, Comcast, HTC, Netgear and Technicolor. The ITC will consider whether to issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against those companies. Those companies declined to comment or didn't comment right away Friday.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership would lead to new markets for e-commerce and improved customs processing, said Brian Huseman, Amazon vice president-public policy, in a blog post. "That's why we support the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement and encourage Congress to approve it," he said. "The agreement makes important progress on areas such as business localization, cross-border data flows, intermediary liability and customs simplification." As Amazon grows, "we want reasonable policies that allow for the movement of goods across borders and that enable anyone in the world to have access to a unique and vast selection," he said. "We also want policies that do not unduly limit the growth of cloud computing by erecting digital trade barriers." But TPP is imperfect and the administration and Congress should work to improve provisions on cross-border data flows and copyright, Huseman said Thursday.
While global cooperation has increased among government agencies combating cartels and reviewing transactions, the head of DOJ's Antitrust Division told the annual Chatham House Competition Policy conference Thursday about differences in criminal treatment of cartel individuals and about becoming more transparent and fair when applying laws. Renata Hesse, who succeeded Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer in April, said in her speech posted on DOJ's website there's "near unanimity around the world about the importance of discovering and prosecuting price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation" by international cartels, and over the past decade a majority of fines have been imposed outside the U.S. But there's a "pronounced difference" between the U.S. and most countries on holding individuals accountable for corporate wrongdoing and that needs to change. Hesse also said there has been more focus on the procedural differences in applying competition law -- "the way we do our work" -- not so much on the substance of the law. A competition agency should measure its success not just by output, but also public confidence in it, which can be achieved through more transparency and procedural fairness, she said. Hesse said there has been great cooperation on deal review procedures and analysis. "Many jurisdictions now apply essentially the same substantive assessment of likely competitive effects from proposed mergers," she said. Last year, DOJ worked with 16 foreign enforcers on 30 different investigations, she added.
Qualcomm said it’s supporting the European Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System across its product portfolios. The company began implementing hardware support for Galileo several years ago in select chipsets, and now offers what it called the industry's first “pervasive,” end-to-end location-services platform for smartphone, computing, infotainment, telematics and IoT applications. The Qualcomm IZat location services platform uses up to six satellite constellations concurrently without incremental device hardware or cost, and users benefit from more than 80 different satellites when calculating global position for navigation or location-based applications, Qualcomm said Tuesday.
CEATEC Japan, the annual consumer technology expo that has had declining attendance and exhibitor participation in recent years, will be “reborn” in 2016 as an IoT “venue,” promoters said in a Monday announcement. “IoT Town” will be a “special exhibit” at the 2016 show “to visualize and contribute to the creation of a future in which a connected society will benefit from the profound potential” of IoT, they said. Japan is “dealing with a myriad of social issues ranging from an aging population and low birth rate, environmental and energy issues, disaster prevention and safety to healthcare,” they said. “The question is how to enhance and manage society and the lives of its people in the face of such looming challenges. Cutting edge technologies will play a role in tackling these issues, but at the same time, the creation of a ‘forum’ made up of multiple dedicated players to collaboratively contemplate the future is indispensable.” The 2016 show opens Oct. 4 for a four-day run at the Makuhari Messe exhibition center in Chiba.