Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings for June 30
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated June 30 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
H324007: Ruling Request; U.S. International Trade Commission; General Exclusion Order; Investigation No. 337-TA-739; Certain Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters and Products Containing the Same
| Ruling: Suzhou has established that its G15 model of ground fault circuit interrupter is not subject to exclusion from entry based on the general exclusion order. |
| Issue: whether Suzhou has established that its G15 model of ground fault circuit interrupter is not subject to exclusion from entry based on the general exclusion order that the ITC issued in Inv. No. 337-TA-739 |
| Item: G15 model of ground fault circuit interrupter |
| Reason: Leviton is in agreement that importation of the device will not violate the 739 general exclusion order. Given that Leviton agrees that the articles at issue do not infringe the asserted claims of the ‘809 patent, CBP finds that Suzhou has established that the articles at issue are not subject to the 739 GEO. |
| Ruling Date: June 30, 2022 |
H322112: 46 U.S.C. § 55102; 19 C.F.R. § 4.80b(a); New and Different Product; Proposed Transportation of Gasoline Blendstock
| Ruling: The first (1) proposed operation would result in the creation of a new and different product within the meaning of 19 C.F.R. § 4.80b(a). Transportation by a non-coastwise-qualified vessel would not be in violation of the Jones Act. The second (2) proposed operation, involving fuel blending on board a stationary non-coastwise qualified vessel, would violate the Jones Act. |
| Issue: whether the two proposed blending operations would result in the creation of a “new and different product” such that the proposed transportation by a non-coastwise-qualified vessel would not be in violation of 46 U.S.C. § 55102 |
| Items: N/A |
| Reason: CBP has consistently held that in order for fuel oil to qualify as a new and different product, it must undergo a change in ASTM grade. (1) The new and different product was created at in intermediary port or place, other than a coastwise point, and was not blended onboard a vessel. (2) The manufacture or processing of products is not permitted on board a vessel under the Jones Act. CBP has a longstanding position of denying the manufacture or processing of products on board a vessel for purposes of the Jones Act. |
| Ruling Date: June 17, 2022 |
H320288: Ruling Request; U.S. International Trade Commission; General Exclusion Order; Investigation No. 337-TA-1174; Certain Toner Cartridges, Components Thereof, and Systems Containing Same
| Ruling: Mito has met its burden to establish that the subject cartridges do not infringe the claims at issue. |
| Issue: whether Mito has met its burden to show that the subject cartridges do not infringe the ’093 patent |
| Items: Toner cartridges incorporating a detection mechanism using a swing member to engage with a collar. The screw is mounted to an agitator shaft on the cartridge, which rotates in order to stir the toner powder contained in the cartridge’s reservoir. |
| Reason: The subject cartridges do not have “a detection gear rotatable about the second shaft” as claim 1 of the ‘093 patent requires. |
| Ruling Date: March 29, 2022 |