Re: [Digital BW] Epson Court decision; explanation please.
2007-11-04 by Brian Ellis
"The ruling does not become effective until the president signs off on it." I don't think that's exactly right. I don't believe the president has to sign off on it in the sense of actually taking some affirmative action before it takes effect. If the president does nothing during the 60 day period following the date of the ruling then I think the ruling automatically takes effect. The president can stop it from taking effect during the 60 day period but unless he does so it will take effect without his doing anything. I could be wrong, I don't have the statute in front of me, but I think that's what it says. And I realize that by using the word "president" I'm inviting another barrage of off-topic hostility directed at George Bush but please note that neither this message nor the statute refers to George Bush by name. Both simply refer to "president," which could be any president past, present, or future.
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----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Roark" <paul.roark@...> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2007 12:09 PM Subject: RE: [Digital BW] Epson Court decision; explanation please. >...Could someone post a few sentence summary of what the decision was? Pursuant to 19 U.S. Code Section 337 (http://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/int_prop/STATUTE.PDF) the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has the power to exclude products from the U.S. -- that is, bar their importation at the borders -- that infringe patents of U.S. companies. Epson, which has nominal production of carts at an Oregon facility (one of the issues that was lost here), has successfully complained to the ITC that many third party ink cartridges violate many of its patents. (The validity of the patents was another issue that was lost by the few third party cartridge companies that even responded to the complaint.) The ITC found that Epson's complaint was valid and ordered that the cartridges at issue be barred from being imported into the U.S. I'm not sure how many, if any, third party carts for desktop Epson printers escape this ruling. The ruling does not become effective until the president signs off on it. If we cannot get cartridges to hold the inks, we cannot use third party inks, such as those sold by MIS and Inkjetmall. This effort by Epson is, obviously, aimed at eliminating competition for its inks, which are very profitable for them. Many of us on this list use third party B&W (and color) inks. Epson's actions threaten to eliminate our ability to do so. Although it's a long shot, sometimes these agency decisions are not just rubber-stamped at the White House. Under Section 19 U.S.C. 1337(d)(1) relating to exclusion of articles from entry, if competition and consumers in the U.S. would be damaged by exclusion, such an order should not be issued. That is what I have argued in a letter to President Bush is the case here. The environmental issues are also something that could be considered by the government at the policy level. So, that is another issue to try and inject into the mix. Note that Epson has private remedies available to it for the patent violations. My argument is basically that the U.S. government should not be subsidizing an effort by a predominantly foreign company to damage competition in the U.S. and raise prices to U.S. consumers. Hope this helps explain what is going on. Paul www.PaulRoark.com Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, and other resources as they are often being updated. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same page. Please follow these basic guidelines: - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep them short. - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames. Hostile, aggressive or argumentative users may be removed from the membership without notice. - Keep your posts and threads related to the group topic of digital B&W printing. Users who persistently make off-topic posts may be removed from the membership. - By posting on this forum you agree to abide by the group rules and guidelines, and to abide by the actions and decisions of the group Owner and Moderators. See "Group Topic, Rules and Guidelines" in the Files section: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/files/ BY PARTICIPATING IN AND/OR POSTING MESSAGES TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE "OWNER" AND "MODERATORS" OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF THE "OWNER" AND "MODERATORS" OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; (ii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iii) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; OR (iv) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP. Yahoo! Groups Links