United States International Trade Commision Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule
faqs.org  Rulings By Number  Rulings By Category  Tariff Numbers
faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 2000 HQ Rulings > HQ 228272 - HQ 546534 > HQ 468842

Previous Ruling Next Ruling
HQ 468842





March 27, 2000

RR:IT:IP 468842 CRS

CATEGORY: 19 U.S.C. ' 1337 UNFAIR COMPETITION

James C. Tuttle, Esq.
Law Offices of James C. Tuttle
82 Wall Street
Suite 1105
New York, NY 10005

RE: Lens-Fitted Film Packages; ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-406

Dear Mr. Tuttle:

This is in reply to your letter of December 14, 1999, on behalf of your client, Sakar International, Inc., in which you requested a ruling as to whether certain 35mm cameras are excluded from entry into the United States pursuant to the General Exclusion Order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission in Investigation No. 337-TA-406. Five sample cameras were included with the ruling request and were submitted for U.S. Customs Laboratory analysis.

FACTS:

Pursuant to the above-referenced exclusion order, the ITC determined that there was a violation of 19 U.S.C. ' 1337 in regard to certain lens-fitted film packages (LFFPs), also known as one-time use cameras, single use cameras, and disposable cameras, that infringed claims under one or more of fifteen patents owned by Fuji Photo Film Co., Inc, including claims 14 and 15 of U.S. Letters Patent 4,855,774 (the “'774 patent”). Certain Lens-Fitted Film Packages, Inv. No. 337-TA-406, General Exclusion Order at 1-2. In its Opinion, the ITC described LFFPs as follows:

The products at issue in this investigation are inexpensive, disposable, single use-cameras, technically referred to as Alens-fitted film packages@ or ALFFPs.@ LFFPs are generally constructed of a shell made of a plastic material such as polystyrene. They are equipped with a button-activated shutter, a lens, a viewfinder, a film advance mechanism, and optional flash units and buttons. An outer cardboard cover, containing printed information such as branding and instructions, encases the shell. LFFPs are preloaded with film and a film cartridge. When pictures are taken, the exposed film winds into the film cartridge. After taking pictures, a typical consumer brings the entire LFFP to a film processor to have the film developed and receives back only negatives and prints, not the LFFP shell and its contents.

Certain Lens-Fitted Film Packages, Inv. No. 337-TA-406 (June 2, 1999), Commission Opinion at 2. See also, Id., Final Initial and Recommended Determinations, Additional Findings, no. 1 at 214.

Five sample cameras, four with flash and one without flash, were submitted with the ruling request. They consist of the following:

Happy Times™ 35mm Reusable Camera with Preloaded Film with Flash

Happy Times™ 35mm Reusable Camera with Preloaded Film and Flash – 3 Pack

Wedding Camera 35mm Reusable Camera with Preloaded Film with Flash

Sports Shot 35mm Reusable Camera with Preloaded Film with Flash

Sports Shot 35mm Reusable Camera with Preloaded Film [non Flash]

The sample “Happy Times” camera is preloaded with film, has a plastic body and is equipped with a flash. The sample has a cardboard label or jacket that is glued around the entire body of the camera; it cannot be opened without removing this label. The camera body consists of a front and back, hinged on one side and with a locking catch on the opposite side. The locking catch release tab is covered by a paper seal which must be broken to open the camera. The sample has horizontal parallel ribs cast into the plastic of the camera’s back. Unexposed film is contained in a film canister. The film’s leader is attached to a spool mounted on the opposite side from the lens. The remaining samples are identical to the “Happy Times™ 35mm Reusable Camera with Preloaded Film with Flash”, except for the non-flash model of the “Sports Shot,” which differs from the other models only in that it lacks a flash mechanism.

The sample cameras were examined by the U.S. Customs Headquarters Research Laboratory, pursuant to which it was determined that the cameras feature parallel ribs cast into the back of the camera are similar to the construction protected by claims 14 and 15 of the '774 patent, which claims assert the following:

14. A lens-fitted photographic film package comprising a light-tight film case with a taking lens fitted thereto and a rolled film, said case having a rolled film chamber, a film take-up chamber, and a back wall portion that closes said two chambers, said rolled film chamber having a rearwardly opening concave curved wall against which the outermost turn of the rolled film lies, said back wall portion having protuberances thereon that define a forwardly opening concave path for the film between said chambers, said back wall portion having a forwardly opening concave curved portion that overlies said rolled film chamber and that contacts and supports the rear of the film emerging from said roll at regions of said film spaced from the longitudinal edges of the film and that in cooperation with said rearwardly opening concave wall of said rolled film chamber contacts the outermost turn of said rolled film chamber and maintains said rolled film in a substantially cylindrical roll.

15. A lens-fitted photographic film package comprising a light tight film case with a taking lens fitted thereto and a rolled film, said case having a rolled film chamber, a film take-up chamber, and a back wall portion that closes said two chambers, said rolled film chamber having a rearwardly opening concave curved wall against which the outermost turn of the rolled film lies, said back wall portion having a forwardly opening concave portion that overlies said rolled film chamber and that contacts and supports the rear of the film emerging from said roll at regions of said film spaced from the longitudinal edges of the film and that in cooperation with said rearwardly opening concave wall of said rolled film chamber contacts the outermost turn of said rolled film and maintains said rolled film is (sic) a substantially cylindrical roll.

Claims 14-15, United States Letters Patent 4,855,774, at 10.

In the case of all five samples, the unexposed film resides inside the film canister, and is then advanced frame-by-frame out of the canister as photographs are taken. Exposed film must then be manually rewound back into the film canister before the film can be removed from the camera. This is the opposite of the film winding mechanism covered by U.S. Letters Patent 4,972,649, one of the fifteen patents at issue in the ITC investigation. The patented method positions the unexposed film roll first outside of the 35mm take-up canister so that the film is advanced frame-by-frame into the canister as photographs are taken.

Based on Customs’ laboratory analysis, the cameras can be opened, reloaded and closed without affecting the cameras’ light-tightness. Laboratory analysis further confirms that the unexposed film is contained in a standard 35mm film cartridge and that when an exposure is made, the film is manually advanced onto a spindle. After the last exposure, the film must be manually rewound into the film cartridge before the cartridge is removed.

ISSUE:

The issue presented is whether the sample cameras are lens-fitted film packages within the scope of the ITC=s general exclusion order in Inv. No. 337-TA-406, such that they are excluded from entry for consumption into the United States.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. ' 1337), prohibits, inter alia, the importation, the sale for importation, or the sale within the United States after importation by the owner, importer, or consignee of articles that infringe a valid and enforceable U.S. patent. 19 U.S.C. ' 1337(a)(1)(B)(i). The ITC has authority to investigate alleged violations of section 337. If the ITC determines that there has been a violation of section 337, it shall, subject to certain potential exceptions, direct that the articles concerned be excluded from entry into the U.S. and, accordingly, notify the Secretary of the Treasury who shall, through its proper officers, refuse such entry. 19 U.S.C. ' 1337. See also, 19 C.F.R. ' 12.39.

In Investigation No. 337-TA-406, the ITC determined that certain LFFPs infringed claims under one or more of fifteen patents owned by Fuji Photo Film Co., Inc., including claims 14 and 15 of U.S. Letters Patent 4,855,774. The ITC ordered that LFFPs that infringed any of the patents be excluded from entry for consumption into the U.S., and notified Customs accordingly. General Exclusion Order, Certain Lens-Fitted Film Packages, Inv. No. 337-TA-406 (June 2, 1999), at 2.

The general exclusion order covers LFFPs, i.e., relatively inexpensive products also known as disposable cameras, single use-cameras and one-time use cameras. LFFPs are generally constructed of a plastic material such as polystyrene, and are equipped with a button-activated shutter, lens, viewfinder, film advance mechanism, and optional flash units and buttons. The outer shell of the LFFP is encased in a cardboard cover or jacket containing printed information such as branding and operating instructions. When an exposure is made, the exposed film winds into the film cartridge. Once a roll of film has been exposed, the consumer typically brings the entire LFFP to a film processor to have the film developed and receives back only negatives and prints, but not the LFFP shell and its contents. Id. at 2; see also, Commission Opinion, Certain Lens-Fitted Film Packages, Inv. No. 337-TA-406 (June 2, 1999), at 2.

The sample cameras have plastic bodies, are preloaded with film and, with one exception are equipped with flash mechanisms. The sample cameras are encased in cardboard jackets that are glued to the body of the camera; they cannot be opened without removing the jackets. The camera shell consists of a front and back, hinged on one side and with a locking catch on the opposite side. The inner back walls of the sample cameras all feature horizontal parallel ribs of the type protected by claims 14 and 15 of the '774 patent.

However, the sample cameras are distinguishable from the LFFPs covered by the ITC’s general exclusion order. In the first instance, the sample cameras are susceptible of reuse in that they feature a hinged back and slide-lock closing which enables them to be opened and closed. As a result, it is possible to reload and reuse the sample cameras. The sample cameras were successfully reloaded and reused under laboratory conditions, and their light tightness was not compromised, even after the paper jacket encasing the article was removed. Moreover, the sample cameras can be loaded and reloaded outside a darkroom.

In addition, the sample cameras have a different winding mechanism than do the products covered by the exclusion order. In the case of the LFFPs covered by the exclusion order, when an exposure is made the exposed film winds into the film cartridge. Id. at 2; see also, Commission Opinion, Certain Lens-Fitted Film Packages, Inv. No. 337-TA-406 (June 2, 1999), at 2. However, in the case of the sample cameras the winding mechanism is just the opposite. The unexposed film resides first in the film canister, then is advanced frame-by-frame out of the canister as photographs are taken. The film must be manually rewound before the cartridge is removed. Laboratory analysis has also confirmed that the sample cameras are reusable and do not lose their light-tightness after being opened and reloaded.

Accordingly, it is Customs’ position that the five sample cameras at issue are not within the scope of the ITC’s general exclusion order on lens-fitted film packages. See, Headquarters Ruling Letter 467930, dated October 22, 1999.

HOLDING:

In conformity with the foregoing, the five sample cameras at issue are not within the scope of the ITC=s general exclusion order in Inv. No. 337-TA-406. The cameras may be entered for consumption into the United States.

Sincerely,


Previous Ruling Next Ruling