ITC limits imports of Toshiba memory devices

The president has 60 days to review the determination of intellectual property infringement.

   The International Trade Commission announced it had found a violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and has issued a limited exclusion order and cease-and-desist orders prohibiting imports and sales, respectively, of infringing non-volatile memory devices by Toshiba America and subsidiaries Toshiba America Electronic Components and Toshiba America Information Systems.
   The ITC instituted the investigation on April 12, 2017, after receiving a complaint by Marconix International Co. Ltd. of Taiwan and Macronix America Inc. of Milpitas, Calif.
   On May 14, Macronix filed a petition for review challenging the finding of an April 27 initial determination that Toshiba didn’t violate Section 337, and the ITC on June 28 decided to review that determination.
   Specifically, the limited exclusion order excludes entry for consumption into the United States or from U.S. foreign-trade zones or the withdrawal from a warehouse for consumption of non-volatile memory devices and products containing the same that are manufactured by or on behalf of or are imported by or on behalf of Toshiba or any of their its companies, parents, subsidiaries, agents or other related business entities or successors or assigns.
   Further, the cease-and-desist orders prohibit Toshiba from importing, selling, marketing, advertising, distributing, transferring (except for exportation) and soliciting U.S. agents or distributors for the subject non-volatile memory device and products containing the same.
   The ITC determined to set import bonds of 100 percent of the entered value of Toshiba flash memory devices, solid state drives, USB flash drives and microcontroller units, and of 6 percent of entered value for Toshiba personal computers, multifunction printers and air conditioners, during the 60-day presidential review period, which started when the determination was issued Tuesday.
   After the ITC determines a violation of Section 337, it must send its final determination to the president, who then has 60 days to determine whether to uphold or disapprove it.
   If the president doesn’t specifically disapprove of the ITC’s determination within the 60-day period, the determination automatically becomes final the day after the period concludes.