1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |Domestic Preferences – CBP Says (Again) More Than Software Download Needed to Effect a Substantial Transformation under the Trade Agreements Act

Domestic Preferences – CBP Says (Again) More Than Software Download Needed to Effect a Substantial Transformation under the Trade Agreements Act

Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.16.15

In a final determination published today, Customs and Border Protection ruled that the last "substantial transformation" (and, hence, the country of origin) of a laptop occurred in a country not "designated" under the Trade Agreements Act when the "base unit" was assembled from principal components (e.g., the CPU and BIOS chip) which were also manufactured in that "non-designated country." Subsequent "download" (which CBP distinguishes from "programming") in a country "designated" under the TAA of critical software necessary for the laptop to function as a computer (e.g.,the BIOS and the Operating System, both of "designated country" origin) were insufficient to substantially transform the laptop and shift the country of origin to the "designated country" and permit sale under GSA Schedule and contracts subject to the TAA.

Contacts

Insights

Client Alert | 5 min read | 09.03.25

If You’re Not First, You’re Last: Federal Circuit’s First Review of an AIA Derivation Proceeding

Nearly a decade and a half after the passage of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”), the Federal Circuit finally had its first occasion to review an appeal of a derivation proceeding that was litigated before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) in Global Health Solutions LLC v. Selner. This case provides helpful guidance for patent litigators regarding the proper legal framework in a derivation proceeding and serves as a reminder that patent applications should be filed as soon as possible. As the facts of this case show, it is important that inventors retain documents and other evidence of the conception of their invention, as well as its communication to others, should there be any challenge to their invention....

View All Insights