U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley for Northern California in San Francisco denied the FTC’s motion for an injunction enjoining Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy pending the outcome of the commission’s appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said her signed order Thursday (docket 3:23-cv-02880). The FTC’s motion earlier Thursday said the injunction was necessary “to preserve the status quo” while the 9th Circuit reviews Corley’s July 10 opinion denying the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction (see 2307110061). Microsoft and Activision, in an opposition filing Thursday, urged Corley to reject the FTC’s motion.
The Commerce Department has released the preliminary results of its countervailing duty administrative review of pasta from Italy (C-475-819). Rates set in this review would be used to set assessments on importers from the exporters under review for subject merchandise entered during calendar year 2021.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a Friday order, denied the FTC’s emergency motion for a “temporary pause” in the consummation of Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy. Its denial permitted the district court’s temporary restraining order that had enjoined the merger from being consummated to expire at 11:59 p.m. PDT Friday night.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein for Southern New York in Manhattan scheduled an initial dial-in conference for Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. EDT in Comcast’s case against MaxLinear, said Hellerstein’s signed order Wednesday (docket 1:23-cv-04436). Comcast is seeking a preliminary injunction to bar MaxLinear from walking away from its contractual obligations to supply chips for Comcast’s broadband gateways (see 2305300045). MaxLinear committed to continue supplying the chips, but only through Aug. 16, in return for Comcast's agreement to withdraw its motion for a temporary restraining order.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks for Western Arkansas in Fayetteville scheduled an Aug. 15 in-person hearing at 10 a.m. CDT on NetChoice’s July 7 motion for a preliminary injunction to block Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) from enforcing the state’s new social media age verification law when it takes effect Sept. 1, said the judge’s signed order Wednesday (docket 5:23-cv-05105). Griffin’s response to the motion is due July 27, said the order. If NetChoice opts to file a reply brief, it’s due Aug. 3 and can’t exceed 10 pages, the order said. Government efforts to restrict minors from accessing online content “have repeatedly been struck down,” especially when they impede the First Amendment rights of adults as well, and Arkansas' social media age verification law “should meet the same fate,” said NetChoice’s injunction motion (see 2307100005). Griffin vowed to vigorously defend the statute in court (see 2306300001).
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register July 14 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):
The Commerce Department has issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on stilbenic optical brightening agents from Taiwan (A-583-848). Commerce set an AD rate of 3.89% for Teh Fong Min International Co., Ltd. (TFM), the only company under review. That rate is unchanged from the preliminary results. Subject merchandise from TFM entered between May 1, 2021, and April 30, 2022, will be liquidated at importer-specific rates, Commerce said. The 3.89% AD cash deposit rate for TFM takes effect July 17.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices July 14 on AD/CVD proceedings:
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted DOJ a temporary administrative stay of the preliminary injunction imposed July 4 by U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty for Western Louisiana in Monroe to prevent dozens of Biden administration officials from conversing with social media platforms for the purposes of content moderation, said the court’s Friday afternoon order (docket 23-30445).
The FTC will appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday’s decision by the U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco to deny the agency’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy from proceeding to its completion, said the agency’s notice of appeal Wednesday (docket 3:23-cv-02880). The appeal was docketed Thursday as case number 23-15992.