HQ 470180 - Lens-Fitted Film Packages; ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-406 - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 470180

April 23, 2002

ENF 4-02 RR:IT:IP 470180 PBP

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

Joseph W. Bain, Esq.
Quarles & Brady LLP
222 Lakeview Avenue, Ste. 400
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

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

Dear Mr. Bain:

This is in reply to your letter dated September 28, 2000, on behalf of your client, Achiever Industries, Ltd., in which you requested a ruling as to whether a certain “Handcrank Camera” preloaded with 35-mm film is excluded from entry into the United States.

FACTS:

Pursuant to the above-referenced exclusion order, the ITC determined that there was a violation of 19 U.S.C. §1337 regarding 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. Certain Lens-Fitted Film Packages, Inv. No. 337-TA-406, General Exclusion Order at 1-2. With the exception of design patents DES. 345,750; DES. 356,101; and DES. 372,722 which claim ornamental designs of single use cameras and are represented by their application drawings, all of the claims of the patents at issue protect “a lens-fitted photographic film package” or “a lens-fitted photographic film unit.” In its Opinion, the ITC described an LFFP as follows:

The products at issue in this investigation are inexpensive, disposable, single use cameras, technically referred to as “lens-fitted film packages” or “LFFPs.” 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.

A sample camera identified as the “Handcrank Camera,” and marked as Article No. VI206-HC, was submitted for our analysis. The sample consists of a camera preloaded with film and incorporates a flash unit which utilizes a horizontally oriented battery and a vertically oriented capacitor. The camera body is constructed of plastic and consists of front and rear covers that are tension fitted to a shell. The rear cover may be removed by releasing tabs securing it to the shell. This may be accomplished without using implements or tools. In addition, the camera is equipped with a lens, a viewfinder, a film advance mechanism incorporating a thumb-wheel and a “release slider,” a film roll spool with a winding crank, and a film canister (patrone). When a photograph is taken, the film winds from the film roll spool into the film canister (patrone). Photographs of the sample camera are displayed below.

ISSUE:

The issue presented is whether the sample camera is a lens-fitted film package within the scope of the ITC’s general exclusion order issued pursuant to Inv. No. 337-TA-406, such that it is 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. The ITC therefore ordered that LFFPs that infringed any of the aforementioned fifteen 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. With the exception of design patents DES. 345,750; DES. 356,101; and DES. 372,722 which claim ornamental designs of single use cameras and are represented by their application drawings, all of the claims of the patents at issue protect “a lens-fitted photographic film package” or “a lens-fitted photographic film unit.”

The general exclusion order covers LFFPs, i.e., relatively inexpensive products also known as disposable cameras, single use cameras, or 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 usually 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 from a preloaded film roll into a film canister (patrone). 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 only negatives and prints back, 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.

Based on laboratory examination, it was determined that the sample does not have a construction similar to that protected by the patents at issue in ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-406. The sample camera is preloaded with film and consists of a plastic body incorporating a flash mechanism which utilizes a horizontally oriented battery and a vertically oriented capacitor. The camera body consists of a shell, a front cover tension fitted to the shell, and a rear cover which is also tension fitted to the shell. The rear cover may be removed by releasing tabs securing it to the shell; an implement or tool is not required to do so.

Laboratory examination of the sample further established that the camera has a lens, an advance mechanism incorporating a thumb-wheel and a “release slider” for winding exposed film into a film canister (patrone), and a rotatable film roll spool with a winding crank. An unexposed roll of film is wound onto the rotatable spool located opposite the film canister (patrone). When a photograph is taken, the film winds from the film roll spool into the film canister (patrone).

Additionally, laboratory analysis established that the sample camera can be reloaded in ordinary light conditions and reused. The camera’s design incorporating a finger-releasable snap lock allows a consumer to remove and replace its back cover without using any tool or other implement. Although the camera is intended to be sold with a cardboard or paper jacket printed with information such as branding and operating instructions encasing its plastic body, such a covering is not required for the camera to remain light-tight. Indeed, the camera’s light tightness was not compromised even after removing and replacing its back cover several times. In contrast, LFFPs as defined by the ITC are "disposable, single use cameras." Consequently, the sample is a different article than the products identified by the ITC as being at issue in Inv. No. 337-TA-406. It is therefore our position that the sample camera is not an LFFP as defined by the ITC, and is not covered by the ITC's exclusion order. See, Headquarters Ruling Letter 468660, dated March 27, 2000.

Inasmuch as we have determined that the subject camera is not an LFFP, we do not address the question of whether the sample camera infringes any of the other elements of the claims of the fifteen patents at issue in ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-406.

HOLDING:

In conformity with the foregoing, the sample camera is not covered by the scope of the ITC's general exclusion order in Inv. No. 337-TA-406. Achiever Industries, Ltd.’s “Handcrank Camera” may be entered for consumption into the United States.

Sincerely,

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