Following the Supreme Court’s ruling against software firm Alice, which criticized abstract software patents (CED June 20 p6), major tech companies are diverging on how they believe the Patent and Trademark Office should interpret the decision, according to comments filed to the PTO (http://1.usa.gov/1kn6lmz). The PTO issued preliminary instructions on what the decision meant for companies examining patents (http://1.usa.gov/1nHVmR7). Microsoft, which favored the high court’s narrow ruling, approved of the PTO’s subsequent “clear, thoughtful, and prompt guidance.” It said “no major changes are required to the substantive description, interpretation, or application of the Alice decision set forth in the preliminary instructions.” Google and Twitter filed joint comments arguing the PTO should go further. “The guidance should make clear that claims directed toward abstract ideas can arise in all fields, not only the specific categories identified in the Preliminary Guidance, and should provide multiple examples of abstract ideas as instruction for examiners."
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Aug. 6, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.
The Commerce Department is postponing until Oct. 27 the due date for its preliminary determinations in the countervailing duty investigations on steel nails from South Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Taiwan and Vietnam (C-580-875, C-557-817, C-523-809, C-583-855, C-552-819). Mid Continent Steel & Wire, the domestic manufacturer that originally requested the investigation, asked for the extension. Once Commerce makes its preliminary determinations, it can suspend liquidation and require cash deposits of estimated CV duties. The preliminary determinations were originally due Aug. 22.
The Commerce Department is beginning an antidumping duty new shipper review on fresh garlic from China (A-570-831) at the request of Jinxiang Kaihua Imp & Exp Co., Ltd., for merchandise both produced and exported by the company. Commerce will determine if Kaihua is independent from state control, and therefore eligible for an estimated AD cash deposit rate other than the high $4.71/kg China-wide entity rate it currently receives.
CBP posted a draft version of some frequently asked questions regarding ocean export manifests in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). "The document represents a series of questions received from Ocean Export stakeholders," said CBP. "Where possible, CBP has provided a preliminary response to the various questions." The FAQs largely focus on technical issues. The agency stressed that the FAQs are a draft document and not an official regulatory document. "This document is a working vehicle for exchange of information between CBP and ocean industry stake holders during the development phases of the [Automated Export System] Export Manifest," it said. "At a future time, CBP may incorporate all or part of this document into an official Export Manifest FAQ document. Trade groups will be notified via CSMS of any such official publication; meantime this document is an evolving work in progress."
Daniel Lyons, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy, pushed back against the “rhetoric” of House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in attacking usage-based pricing last week (WID July 30 p6). Eshoo had focused on the preliminary findings of a GAO study she requested and criticized the data caps practice, associating it with net neutrality violations. “It is worthwhile to review what the GAO actually said, and to set the record straight on the issue of usage-based pricing,” Lyons said in an AEI blog post Monday (http://bit.ly/1otNqpt). “There is nothing inherently anticompetitive about usage-based broadband pricing. Rather, it is one of many potential pricing strategies by which a broadband provider can distribute its fixed costs across its customer base.” The GAO preliminary findings offered no definitive look at the practice either way, he said, parsing the results.
Daniel Lyons, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy, pushed back against the “rhetoric” of House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in attacking usage-based pricing last week (CD July 30 p13). Eshoo had focused on the preliminary findings of a GAO study she requested and criticized the data caps practice, associating it with net neutrality violations. “It is worthwhile to review what the GAO actually said, and to set the record straight on the issue of usage-based pricing,” Lyons said in an AEI blog post Monday (http://bit.ly/1otNqpt). “There is nothing inherently anticompetitive about usage-based broadband pricing. Rather, it is one of many potential pricing strategies by which a broadband provider can distribute its fixed costs across its customer base.” The GAO preliminary findings offered no definitive look at the practice either way, he said, parsing the results.
The joint CBP and industry working group effort to improve entry summary decided on some initial steps during the group's first meeting July 15-17, according to a description of the first session posted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA). The group, known as the Simplified Summary Working Group, "was established to further improve the Entry Summary process and policies to improve usability and efficiency by modernizing the post- release processes to align with current business practices or the trade community," it said.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of its countervailing duty administrative review on multilayered wood flooring from China (C-570-971). The agency calculated new rates for 90 Chinese exporters. These final results will be used to set final assessments of CV duties on importers for entries between April 6, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2011. New CV duty cash deposit rates set in this review will take effect Aug. 4.
The Commerce Department published notices in the July 31 Federal Register on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):