Under a new rule that became effective August 3, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) requires all foreign-domiciled trademark applicants, registrants, and parties to a trademark proceeding to be represented by an attorney who is licensed to practice law in the United States. This requirement applies to any entity with a principal place of business outside of the United States and its territories and any individual with a permanent legal residence outside…

On August 27, 2019, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) published a final rule regarding the procedures for the preparation and filing of Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) petitions and public comments. The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) Act temporarily reduces or eliminates import duties on specified raw materials and intermediate products used in manufacturing that are not produced or available domestically. It is intended to ensure that U.S. manufacturers are not at a disadvantage to their…

Here, we identify 10 key issues relating to how the U.S. antitrust agencies—the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ)—analyze CPG transactions. 1) High-End vs. Low-End Antitrust agencies often define the market for the merging parties’ products quite narrowly. In one notable example, the FTC defined a market limited to “intense mints” (think Altoids), which excluded traditional mints (think Life Savers). The antitrust agencies often define markets around product sub-segments based on distinct…

In today’s protectionist environment, importers are facing heightened legal risks and a potential False Claims Act (FCA) violation when providing information to Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). In June, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Manhattan-based children’s apparel companies Stargate Apparel, Inc., Rivstar Apparel, Inc., and their CEO, Joseph Bailey. The Complaint, filed under seal, had alleged that Bailey, Rivstar, and Stargate violated…

On August 12, 2019, a jury in Delaware federal court found L’Oreal USA Inc. liable for misappropriating Olaplex LLC’s trade secrets, infringing two patents relating to hair-coloring, and breaching a nondisclosure agreement between the two parties. The jury awarded $91.3 million to Olaplex. Olaplex’s victory demonstrates the importance of entering into nondisclosure agreements before disclosing potential intellectual property to a competitor – especially a large one. This suit stems from a meeting in 2015 between…

In June 2018, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced additional tariffs on products imported from China. The additional tariffs are part of the U.S.’ response to China’s unfair trade practices related to “the forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property” pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. To date, three lists of tariffs against China have been posted. Today, August 13, 2019, the USTR released two additional…

On July 9, the European Commission (EC) fined the Japanese company Sanrio – which holds and licenses various popular brands, including Hello Kitty, Chococat and the Mr. Men characters – € 6.2 million for licensing practices that restricted online and cross-border sales of merchandise. In late June it also published the full text of its decision fining Nike €12.5 million for similar behaviour. Both decisions form part of the series of enforcement actions taken by…