Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, Chairman of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC), announced today that Judge Clark S. Cheney has joined the USITC as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).  Cheney will manage litigation, preside over evidentiary hearings, and make initial determinations in the agency’s investigations involving unfair practices in import trade. These investigations most often involve allegations of patent and trademark infringement.

Prior to joining the USITC, Cheney served as an ALJ with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Social Security Administration.

Cheney worked in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. International Trade Commission for several years prior to becoming an Administrative Law Judge.  While at the USITC, he regularly argued appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on behalf of the Commission, including the en banc argument of Suprema Inc. v. ITC.  Cheney also served as an attorney advisor in the Commission’s Office of Administrative Law Judges and was detailed to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.  He began his career as a patent examiner and served as a law clerk to Judge William Bryson at the Federal Circuit.  During several years of private practice, he represented domestic and international clients in intellectual property litigation.

Cheney holds a juris doctor degree, cum laude¸ from the Georgetown University Law Center and a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Utah.

The U.S. International Trade Commission is an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of government, determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices in import trade, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain fuel pump assemblies having vapor separators and components thereof.  The products at issue in the investigation are certain fuel pump assemblies for marine engines, and in particular that are sold as equivalents or replacements for certain Volvo Penta fuel pump assemblies.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Carter Fuel Systems, LLC, of Logansport, IN, on January 31, 2018.  The complaint was supplemented on February 15, 16, and 22, 2018.  The amended complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain fuel pump assemblies having vapor separators and components thereof that infringe a patent asserted by the complainant.  The complainant requests that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order.

The USITC has identified Wenzhou Jushang (JS) Performance Parts Co. Ltd. of Wenzhou, Zheijhang, China, as the respondent in this investigation.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-1101), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.  The USITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC’s administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.  The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.

The USITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.  Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the USITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.  USITC remedial orders in section 337 cases are effective when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain microfluidic systems and components thereof and products containing same.  The products at issue in the investigation include microfluidic cartridges, reagents, and devices for preparing samples for sequencing.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by 10X Genomics, Inc., of Pleasanton, CA, on January 11, 2018.  The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain microfluidic systems and components thereof and products containing same that infringe patents asserted by the complainant.  The complainant requests that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order.

The USITC has identified Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., of Hercules, CA, as the respondent in this investigation.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-1100), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.  The USITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC’s administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.  The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.

The USITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.  Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the USITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.  USITC remedial orders in section 337 cases are effective when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain subsea telecommunication systems and components thereof.  The products at issue in the investigation are systems and components of long-haul subsea telecommunication systems, including terminals, also known as dry plants.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Neptune Subsea Acquisitions Ltd. and Neptune Subsea IP Ltd., both of Harold Wood, Essex, the United Kingdom, and Xtera, Inc., of Allen, TX, on December 22, 2017.  The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain subsea telecommunication systems and components thereof that infringe patents asserted by the complainants.  The complainants request that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order.

The USITC has identified the following as respondents in this investigation:

Nokia Corporation of Espoo, Finland;
Nokia Solutions and Networks B.V. of Hoofddorp, The Netherlands;
Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy of Espoo, Finland;
Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks SAS of Boulogne Billancourt, France;
Nokia Solutions and Networks US LLC of Phoenix, AZ;
NEC Corporation of Tokyo, Japan;
NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation of Tokyo, Japan; and
NEC Corporation of America of Irving, TX.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-1098), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.  The USITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC’s administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.  The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.

The USITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.  Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the USITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.  USITC remedial orders in section 337 cases are effective when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain solid state storage drives, stacked electronic components, and products containing same.  The products at issue in the investigation are various types of memory devices, including solid state storage drives and DRAM/processor devices and products such as laptops and mobile devices containing these memory devices.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by BiTMICRO, LLC, of Reston, VA, on December 21, 2017.  An amended complaint was filed on January 9, 2018.  The amended complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain solid state storage drives, stacked electronic components, and products containing same that infringe patents asserted by the complainant.  The complainant requests that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

The USITC has identified the following as respondents in this investigation:

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., of Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea;
Samsung Semiconductor, Inc., of San Jose, CA;
Samsung Electronics America, Inc., of Ridgefield Park, NJ;
SK Hynix Inc. of Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea;
SK Hynix America Inc. of San Jose, CA;
Dell Inc. of Round Rock, TX;
Dell Technologies Inc. of Round Rock, TX;
Lenovo Group Ltd. of Beijing, China;
Lenovo (United States) Inc. of Morrisville, NC;
HP Inc. of Palo Alto, CA;
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. of Palo Alto, CA;
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. of Taipei, Taiwan;
ASUS Computer International of Fremont, CA;
Acer Inc. of New Taipei City, Taiwan;
Acer America Corp. of San Jose, CA;
VAIO Corporation of Azumino, Japan; and
Transcosmos America Inc. of Gardena, CA.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-1097), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.  The USITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC’s administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.  The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.

The USITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.  Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the USITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.  USITC remedial orders in section 337 cases are effective when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain microperforated packages containing fresh produce.  The products at issue in the investigation are packaging containing fresh produce with microperforations in a nonporous, polymeric packaging material to control and maintain desired oxygen and carbon dioxide concentration for fresh produce contained within the packaging.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Windham Packaging LLC of Windham, NH, on November 13, 2017.  The amended complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain microperforated packaging containing fresh produce that infringe a patent asserted by the complainant.  The complainant requests that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

The USITC has identified the following as the respondent in this investigation:

Alpine Fresh, lnc., of Miami, FL;
Apio, Inc., Guadalupe, CA;
B&G Foods North America, Inc., of Parsippany, NJ;
Glory Foods, Inc., of Columbus, OH; and
Taylor Farms California, Inc., of Salinas, CA.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-1096), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.  The USITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC’s administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.  The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.

The USITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.  Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the USITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.  USITC remedial orders in section 337 cases are effective when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain load supporting systems, including composite mat systems, and components thereof.  The products at issue in the investigation are large composite mats that are used to establish temporary surfaces for supporting large items, such as trucks, tanks, and oil and gas drilling operations.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Newpark Mats & Integrated Services LLC of The Woodlands, TX, on December 15, 2017.  The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain load supporting systems, including composite mat systems, and components thereof that infringe patents asserted by the complainant.  The complainant requests that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

The USITC has identified the following as respondents in this investigation:

Checkers Industrial Products, LLC, of Broomfield, CO;
Checkers Safety Group UK LTD of Altrincham, Cheshire, United Kingdom; and
Zigma Ground Solutions LTD of Stansted, Essex, United Kingdom.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-1095), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.  The USITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC’s administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.  The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.

The USITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.  Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the USITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.  USITC remedial orders in section 337 cases are effective when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain IoT devices and components thereof (IOT, the Internet of Things) – web applications displayed on a web browser.  The products at issue in the investigation are electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets with certain types of web applications that can be used to perform commercial transactions over the Internet.

The investigation is based on an amended complaint filed by Lakshmi Arunachalam, Ph.D., and WebXchange, Inc., both of Menlo Park, CA, on November 7, 2017.  The amended complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain IOT devices and components thereof that infringe a patent asserted by the complainants.  The complainants request that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

The USITC has identified the following as the respondent in this investigation:

Apple Inc. of Cupertino, CA;
Facebook, Inc., of Menlo Park, CA;
Samsung Electronics America, Inc., of Ridgefield Park, NJ; and
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., of Seoul, South Korea.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-1094), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.  The USITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC’s administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.  The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.

The USITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.  Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the USITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.  USITC remedial orders in section 337 cases are effective when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain mobile electronic devices and radio frequency and processing components thereof.  The products at issue in the investigation are primarily certain smartphone models offered by Apple, Inc. that incorporate technologies to enhance carrier aggregation functionality, power-efficient radio frequency (RF) signal reception, power-efficient processor and memory architectures, and image processing.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Qualcomm Incorporated of San Diego, CA, on November 30, 2017.  The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain mobile electronic devices and radio frequency and processing components thereof that infringe patents asserted by the complainant.  The complainant requests that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order.

The USITC has identified Apple Inc. of Cupertino, CA, as the respondent in this investigation.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-1093), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.  The USITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC’s administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.  The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.

The USITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.  Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the USITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.  USITC remedial orders in section 337 cases are effective when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain self-anchoring beverage containers.  The products at issue in the investigation are beverage containers that attach themselves to surfaces on which they are put (such as desks or tables), making it difficult to knock them over, while still allowing users to pick them up.

The investigation is based on an amended complaint filed by Alfay Designs, Inc., of Rahway, NJ; Mighty Mug, Inc., of Rahway, NJ; and Harry Zimmerman of Los Angeles, CA, on December 1, 2017.  The amended complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain self-anchoring beverage containers that infringe patents and a registered trademark asserted by the complainants.  The complainants request that the USITC issue a general exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

The USITC has identified the following as respondents in this investigation:

Telebrands, Corp. of Fairfield, NJ;
HIRALIY of Guangdong Province, China;
Chekue (Shenzhen Chekue Trading Co. Ltd.) of Guangdong Province, China;
Tapcet (Guangzhou Tinghui Trade Co., Ltd.) of Guangdong Province, China;
OUOH (Zhejiang OUOH Houseware Co., Ltd.) of Zhejiang Province, China;
DevBattles of Ternopil, Ukraine;
OTELAS, MB of Klaipeda, Lithuania; and
Artiart Limited of Taipei, Taiwan.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-1092), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.  The USITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC’s administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.  The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.

The USITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.  Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the USITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.  USITC remedial orders in section 337 cases are effective when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period.

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