Headphone suppliers Signeo and Sol Republic will square off in court next week as Signeo seeks a preliminary injunction against sales of Sol Republic headphones it claims infringe Signeo’s Soul by Ludacris trademark.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Web site as of February 21, 2012, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. These messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.
The FTC urged a federal judge to dismiss a complaint from a public interest group that aims to force the commission to take action concerning Google’s plans to alter its privacy policy. The complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, “which seeks to deprive the commission of the discretion to exercise its enforcement authority, flouts controlling precedent that universally rejects such efforts,” the FTC said in a motion to dismiss filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. EPIC filed a complaint this month and requested a preliminary injunction against Google, claiming that the change violates the settlement Google reached with the FTC about Google Buzz (WID Feb 9 p7). The commission called the lawsuit “baseless” and said EPIC’s emergency relief motion also should be denied: “Preliminary injunctive relief is an ‘extraordinary and drastic remedy’ that should be exercised sparingly.” FTC enforcement decisions aren’t subject to judicial review, the motion said. EPIC hasn’t made the kind of strong showing “that would justify the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction, especially a mandatory injunction that would impose an unprecedented form of affirmative relief.” EPIC replied to the motion, claiming the commission’s “failure to enforce a final order under the FTC Act is subject to judicial review.” The statute’s enforcement provision “states unambiguously that a person ‘who violates an order of the commission after it has become final’ shall pay a civil penalty,” EPIC said.
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the February 22, 2012 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a proposed rule to make various changes to the in-bond regulations so that they are more logical and better track the in-bond process. The proposed rule would transform the in-bond process from a paper dependent entry process to an automated paperless process in ACE. It would also require additional information to be reported on the in-bond application, establish a 30-day transit time for all modes except pipelines, and require electronic permission from CBP for in-bond cargo diversion, among other changes. Comments on the proposed rule are due by April 23, 2012.
The Office of Textiles and Apparel has issued monthly reports containing official December 2011 trade data from the Census Bureau for U.S. imports and exports of cotton, wool, man-made fiber (MMF), silk blends, and non-cotton vegetable fiber textile and apparel products.
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the February 21, 2012 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The copyright infringement case against “used” digital music reseller ReDigi won’t get input anytime soon from tech heavyweights or participants in the cloud-computing industry. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in New York denied a request by ReDigi to set a “firm, publicly known deadline” for receipt of friend-of-the-court briefs. Google earlier tried to submit its own brief in the case to no avail with Sullivan, saying EMI’s claims against ReDigi’s upload of users’ tracks and resale of those tracks could harm the legal protections for the cloud-computing industry (WID Feb 3 p10). ReDigi “has not demonstrated any facts to overcome” Sullivan’s earlier finding that “the parties are fully capable of raising issues” that third parties would raise, and ReDigi and EMI “have every incentive to do so,” the judge said (http://xrl.us/bmshkg). The case management plan approved by Sullivan (http://xrl.us/bmshk9) sets a deadline of May 21 for all fact discovery and depositions to be completed. EMI and ReDigi agreed that “all or most issues regarding liability can be potentially resolved by summary judgment” following fact discovery, with motions for summary judgment, oppositions and replies due in June and July, and oral argument scheduled for Aug. 17. Sullivan also denied ReDigi’s request for a pre-motion conference regarding a preliminary injunction against EMI for allegedly pressuring Rdio to drop its licensing agreement with ReDigi for 30-second preview clips. EMI alleged in its suit that ReDigi didn’t have a proper licensing agreement for its preview clips. ReDigi said the dropped Rdio agreement constitutes improper “extrajudicial tactics” by EMI. Sullivan, who had given a lifeline to ReDigi by denying an injunction against the service (WID Feb 8 p6), showed annoyance with ReDigi’s request, “which is barely four sentences long” (http://xrl.us/bmshna). ReDigi “offers no legal theory or authority whatsoever as a basis for this Court to enjoin a third party from terminating its contractual relationship with Defendant,” the judge said in an order.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the February 17, 2012 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):
The FCC proposed to change how the cellular service is licensed -- from a site-based to a geographically based regime. The spectrum covered, in the 800 MHz band, was the first used for cellphones. The FCC also proposed eliminating data filing requirements in seven areas. The proposed rules approved by commissioners at Wednesday’s meeting would put cellular licensees on the same footing as other bands, including PCS, AWS and the 700 MHz band. CTIA sought the rule changes in an October 2008 petition. The notice and an accompanying order were not controversial and didn’t spark much discussion on the eighth floor prior the vote, agency officials said.