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February 12, 2012

Inky

The wonders of the Chinese nation are remarkable. Their respect for the environment is matched by their scrupulous business practices and freedom-loving governance. So it comes as a shock that Ninestar Technology, a Chinese company with American subsidiaries, had been found committing "unfair trade practices based on infringement of certain United States patents by the importation and sale of ink printer cartridges produced in China." There was something of a communication problem. Fairness does not translate well into Chinese. Upon being ordered to stop importation by the ITC, Ninestar "did not simply ignore or disregard the Commission's orders; they deliberately evaded the orders." Ninestar argued that the ITC "does not have jurisdiction over Ninestar China;" that "a non-judicial body cannot be assigned authority to issue a punitive penalty for violation of an administrative order. Ninestar argues that the statutory penalty is of such magnitude as to be criminal in nature and that a procedure whereby an administrative agency levies a criminal penalty is an unconstitutional violation of separation of powers"; that the ITC's "cease and desist order is 'unconstitutional on its face' because it is 'unclear' in that it does not identify the specific ink cartridges and model numbers that are affected." On appeal, the CAFC was unmoved the Ninestar's inky arguments. These U.S. government bureaucracies and courts are not so unbiased and free-thinking as the Chinese. (CAFC 2009-1549)

Posted by Patent Hawk at February 12, 2012 4:35 PM | ITC