Chinese Laser Parts Subject To Duties, Trade Court Says

By Jack McLoone

Imported components used by a U.S. laser manufacturer don't meet the standards for exclusion from duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Wednesday, backing a U.S. Department of Commerce determination.

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Huawei Used Joint Venture Talks For IP Heist, Jury Hears

By Stewart Bishop

Jurors in the corporate criminal trial of Huawei saw evidence Wednesday suggesting proprietary information for Quintel Tech. Ltd.'s technology for improving cell phone reception was used in a patent application by a Huawei engineer amid joint venture talks, as prosecutors continued to assert the Chinese telecommunications giant made trade secret theft one of its central business strategies.

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Keysight Can't Get Full Fed. Circ. To Review Centripetal Case

By Ryan Davis

The full Federal Circuit will not review a decision upholding the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Keysight Technologies Inc. failed to show that five claims in a Centripetal Networks LLC cybersecurity patent are invalid, rejecting Keysight's argument that the panel focused on "form over substance."

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Analysis

Newman's Roadblocks Guide Judicial Conduct Reform Bill

By Dani Kass

The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act has worked well in allowing the judicial branch to govern itself for nearly 50 years, but the ongoing suspension of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has exposed gaps that could be addressed with newly introduced legislation, attorneys say.

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Brief

Chinese Medicinal Chemical Exporter Faces Triple-Digit Duty

By Dylan Moroses

A pharmaceutical compound imported from China has been found to have been subsidized, and at least one exporter of the goods in question could face triple-digit retroactive countervailing duties, according to a notice issued Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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Brief

Commerce Says Chinese Co.'s Small Engines Skirting Duties

By Jack McLoone

A pair of engines produced by a Chinese company and imported to the U.S. were developed in order to evade duty orders on small engines from the country, the U.S. Department of Commerce found Wednesday.

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Brief

Chinese Graphite Electrodes May See Retroactive Duties

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Department of Commerce identified a surge of imported Chinese large-diameter graphite electrodes in advance of duties being imposed on those goods and preliminarily determined that critical circumstances exist for the department to retroactively apply countervailing duties, according to a Wednesday notice. 

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Brief

Commerce Finalizes Duty Rates For Certain Freight Couplers

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday finalized its determinations that imported freight rail couplers from India and the Czech Republic are being sold at unfair prices.

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Brief

Commerce Lifts China, Bahrain Aluminum Can Stock Duties

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Department of Commerce has revoked countervailing and antidumping duties imposed on aluminum can stock imported from China and Bahrain, according to final results of a changed circumstances review published in a notice filed Wednesday.

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Nestle Asks Justices To Review 'Sustainable' Cocoa Classes

By Lauren Berg

Nestle asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a divided Ninth Circuit decision upholding class certification of millions of consumers who bought chocolate labeled "sustainably sourced" in a lawsuit claiming the chocolate is produced through child labor and deforestation.

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DOJ Eyes Per Se Rule In Fragrance Antitrust Suit

By Craig Clough

The U.S. Department of Justice told a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday that it plans to weigh in on fragrance-makers' bid to dismiss purchasers' price-fixing claims, saying the motion raises "significant questions" about a Third Circuit antitrust ruling that the court revised after the department challenged its wording.

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Sens. Await FTC Reply On Amazon, Walmart Shopping Bots

By Corey Rothauser

U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott are waiting to receive a substantive response from the Federal Trade Commission to their request for an investigation into how Amazon and Walmart's AI shopping assistants handle "Made in the USA" products, Baldwin's office confirmed Wednesday.

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Opinion

Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

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Litigation Spending To Keep Climbing While Biz Risks Mount

By Ryan Boysen

Big companies will increase their litigation budgets yet again next year, as navigating legal risk is now an essential element of achieving strategic business goals, according to a new report.

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Seyfarth Failed To Guard Client Data From Hack, Suit Alleges

By Lauren Berg

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on Thursday was hit with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court accusing it of failing to protect its current and former clients' personal information after the Chicago-based law firm this month disclosed a recent data breach.

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PACER Experiences Outages Of Some Court Dockets

By Matt Perez

PACER, the online public repository of federal court documents, experienced technical errors on Wednesday and Thursday preventing some users from accessing certain court dockets.

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New Eastern La. Judge's 5th Circ. Bid Goes To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Anna St. John of the Eastern District of Louisiana, who was confirmed to her current post in March, is one step closer to being elevated to the federal appeals bench.

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Fla. Judge To Get Reprimand For Remark On Shooting Attys

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a public reprimand of a state district court judge for "intemperate and caustic" comments about shooting attorneys during a hearing.

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Congressional Probes Raise Legal, 'Reputational' Risks

By Phillip Bantz

An array of companies and executives may face investigations over their dealings with the Trump administration if Democrats take control of Congress, raising the possibility that some may refuse to comply. But experts say holding out hope for a mass pardon or expecting the Justice Department not to pursue contempt charges is a risky bet.

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Analysis

5 Circuit Splits To Watch At The High Court

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court has been deciding fewer and fewer cases over the past three decades, with its caseload reaching a historic low just last term. While attorneys believe several factors have contributed to that trend, they say one of the most consequential is the court's apparent declining interest in resolving circuit splits. 

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Trump's Antitrust Pick Advances Amid Independence Worries

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the antitrust division at the U.S. Department of Justice advanced to the Senate floor on Thursday, despite Democratic concerns about agency independence.

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Sen. Hyde-Smith's Opponent Seeks Blue-Slip Transparency

By Courtney Bublé

Four years ago, Scott Colom — the son of the first African American elected to the chancery bench in her region of Mississippi — was nominated for a federal judgeship. Now he's running for Senate against the senator who blocked his confirmation.

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Ed. Dept. Committee Sidesteps ABA Accreditation Issue

By Ryan Boysen

A key U.S. Department of Education committee on Thursday declined to weigh in on whether an American Bar Association council should remain a federally recognized accreditor of law schools, a day after the panel deadlocked on different proposals over the hot-button issue.

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