Qs:
Concerning about the protectionist policies, what is this passage about?
Legal experts help unravel US patent investigations into Chinese firms
The US International Trade Commission on Monday initiated a patent investigation
into a Chinese medical device company and its two US entities, instituting yet another
Section 337 probe involving Chinese companies.
The products at issue are systems used in the treatment of sleep-disorder breathing,
particularly obstructive sleep apnea, according to the ITC.
The investigation is based on a complaint filed on July 19 by ResMed Corp and
ResMed Inc of San Diego, CA, and ResMed Ltd of Bella Vista, Australia, claiming
patent infringement and requesting limited exclusion and cease and desist orders, said
the commission.
Carl Valenstein, a Washington-based partner with the law firm Bingham McCutchen
LLP, said the ITC routinely initiates investigations when patent infringement
complaints are filed by private parties.
"The ITC has a statutory mandate to investigate unfair acts in the importation of
goods and to decide whether to investigate within 30 days of receiving a complaint,"
said Valenstein.
"This is not a trade remedy case initiated by the US Government and there is no
correlation between investigations of patent infringement by private parties and other
trade remedy cases, such as antidumping and countervailing duty cases," he added.
Yitai Hu, a partner in the Silicon Valley office of Alston & Bird LLP who litigates
intellectual property cases, said that the "unusual" thing about the ITC is that "non-US
companies, as long as they qualify as a complainant, may institute a 337 investigation
against its competitors worldwide".
The 337 investigation - not the first one into a Chinese firm - is seen by many as a
move that sends out a protectionist signal to Chinese businesses in the US market.
But legal experts say that it is valid for international firms to file a complaint if they
feel they've been unfairly treated in the industry.
"The investigations handled by the commission often reflect the world economy as
evidenced by the fact that more and more USITC investigations are directed at
Chinese companies in recent years, coinciding with the rise of China's economy," said
Hu. "The medical devices case is but one example."
In a recently-terminated investigation, Hu cited, Hitachi Metals of Japan filed a 337
investigation against three Chinese companies - Yantai Zhenghai Magnetic Material
Co Ltd, Anhui Earth-Panda Advance Magnetic Material Co Ltd, and Ningbo Jinji
Strong Magnet Material Co Ltd.
"In this particular case, the Chinese companies received very favorable results, but the
investigation itself cannot be accurately called protectionism because Hitachi Metals