Patent Law

From today's, January 20, 2009, WebWire:

On January 13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. affirmed the Final Determination and General Exclusion Order of the U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC"). A General Exclusion Order that bars imports of infringing new and refilled cartridges was entered by the ITC in October 2007, after an ITC trial established widespread infringement of Epson?s cartridge patents by many foreign manufacturers, importers and U.S. distributors. The unsuccessful Appeal was filed by Ninestar Technologies Co, Ltd.of China, Ninestar?s U.S. subsidiaries and Dataproducts USA LLC (a division of Clover Technologies Group).

Epson will vigorously proceed with enforcement of its patents now that the validity and enforceability of its patents have again been ratified. A second ITC trial was conducted on Jan.14-16, 2009 in Washington D.C. to determine any financial penalties that may be assessed against Ninestar, Mipo America,Ltd. and Cana-Pacific Ribbons Inc. and their affiliates for alleged violations of the General Exclusion Order. The ITC has not yet determined any violations, but has the authority to assess substantial penalties up to $100,000 per day of violations or twice the commercial value of infringing imports.

Read the complete item here.