In digital markets, “as in all markets,” DOJ’s Antitrust Division “advocates for a careful application of the competition laws that takes into account both the short-term and long-term effects on innovation,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roger Alford told the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan Wednesday in Tokyo. “Preserving incentives to innovate is also important to Japan, a leader in innovation and technology,” he said. “American consumers benefit greatly from Japanese inventions across different industries. The Sony Walkman was a breakthrough technology that gave music lovers like me a way to listen to music on the go.” Strong intellectual property protections are “key for unlocking innovation,” he said. The Antitrust Division “has sought to curb the misapplication of antitrust law in this area,” he said. “In our view, there should be no free-standing obligation to license patent rights under antitrust law. Similarly, we believe that an unconditional refusal to license a patent, on its own, does not give rise to antitrust liability. We are concerned that using the antitrust laws to police the exercise of an exclusive intellectual property right ultimately will undermine the incentives to innovate and engage in dynamic competition.”

The Trump administration recognizes the need for “striking the balance of an open research environment and safeguarding American assets and intellectual property,” Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Kelvin Droegemeier wrote Tuesday. He noted “cutting-edge technologies” are shaping American jobs: “The American free market system is unmatched in pushing the boundaries of science and technology, and our continued global leadership is dependent upon removing obstacles to achieve our full potential.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a Laguna Hills, California, man last week on federal charges he ran a scheme that smuggled $72 million worth of counterfeit Apple and Samsung smartphone parts from China for sale online in the U.S., said the agency Thursday. Chan Hung Le, 44, faces up to 45 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and to traffic in counterfeit goods, among other charges, said ICE. Le, through a company he owns in Irvine, California, called EZ Elektronix, smuggled counterfeit iPhone and Galaxy components and used “various tactics” to avoid detection by U.S., Hong Kong and Chinese customs authorities, it said. ICE alleges Le tried to conceal the scheme by using multiple business names and addresses, plus “virtual offices” and post office boxes, in at least three states. Once the counterfeit products arrived, Le “distributed the parts to the public through various online stores that falsely claimed the parts were genuine,” it said. Attempts to reach Le’s lawyers for comment Monday were unsuccessful.

Apple and Qualcomm announced a patent dispute settlement Tuesday, dismissing all worldwide litigation between the tech companies (see 1903270012). The deal includes an undisclosed payment from Apple to Qualcomm. A six-year license agreement, effective April 1, carries a two-year extension option. The two sides also reached a multiyear chipset supply agreement. Qualcomm closed 23.2 percent higher at $70.45 Tuesday, and Apple closed virtually flat at $199.25.

A "piecemeal" approach to patent revision might be more realistic than comprehensive legislation, American Enterprise Institute adjunct fellow Michael Rosen blogged Monday. Rosen lauded the reintroduction of Rep. Michael Burgess’, R-Texas, Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (Trol) Act. Introduced in each session since 2015, the legislation targets abusers who send “meritless letters to companies demanding payment for their patents.” Violations would fall under “an unfair or deceptive act or practice.” Comprehensive legislation has “gone nowhere,” but “more limited measures like Burgess’ bill may have a higher chance of becoming law,” Rosen said.

EU governments backed compromise legislation updating EU copyright law Monday. The directive, approved by the European Parliament March 27 (see 1903260001), contains two provisions that remain controversial -- Articles 15 (formerly 11) and 17 (formerly 13). The former grants news publishers a new right covering digital use of their content; the latter requires online platforms to secure licenses for copyright-protected works uploaded by users and monitor for infringements. Final passage of the measure "is a milestone for the development of a robust and well-functioning digital single market," said Valer-Daniel Breaz, culture and national identity minister for Romania, which currently holds the EU Presidency. Governments have two years once the directive is published in the EU's Official Journal to adopt the new rules into national law. "We fear it will harm online innovation and restrict online freedoms in Europe," said Computer & Communications Industry Association Senior Policy Manager-Europe Maud Sacquet. She urged EU governments to "thoroughly assess and try to minimise the consequences" of the law when they implement it. The Independent Music Companies Association, however, said the text clarifying the position of platforms "is a first of its kind, and sets an example for other countries across the globe." The European Magazine Media Association, European Newspaper Publishers' Association, European Publishers Council and News Media Europe cheered the adoption of Article 15 and urged countries to it put in place quickly.

Sony is seeking a permanent injunction against a Florida entrepreneur on Lanham Act “trademark dilution” allegations for doing business under the names “Soni Interiors” and “SoniTex USA” without a Sony license, court documents show. “Defendant’s SONI Marks so closely resemble Sony’s distinctive and famous SONY mark that they are likely to dilute the distinctive quality of the SONY mark,” said the complaint (in Pacer) Friday in U.S. District Court in Orlando. “The SONI portion of the SONI Marks is identical in pronunciation and nearly identical in appearance to the famous SONY mark,” it said. Consumers "are likely to pronounce 'SoniTex USA' as 'SONY-tex USA,' making it phonetically identical and highly similar to SONY in overall commercial impression," said the complaint. People also are likely to get the "false and misleading impression that 'SoniTex USA' is Sony’s U.S. textile, fabric, or furnishing unit," it said. Sony runs no such subsidiary in the U.S., emailed Sony America spokesperson Lisa Gephardt Monday. SoniTex is a manufacturer and wholesale distributor of kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, flooring materials and other home-improvement products, and sells them to the public through an affiliated Soni Interiors warehouse store in Sanford, Florida. Deep Soni, as the owner of both enterprises, applied at the Patent and Trademark Office six years ago to register those names as U.S. trademarks, said the complaint. Sony successfully blocked both applications before PTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) on the same trademark-dilution grounds as in the complaint, it said. PTO records show the agency declared the applications dead in April 2015 and January 2016 after owner Soni let both lapse without meeting PTO's deadlines for challenging the TTAB's rulings. Roughly two dozen "valid and subsisting" registered trademarks are on file at PTO embedded with the Sony logo, said the complaint. "They constitute conclusive evidence of the validity of the registered mark, of Sony’s ownership of the mark, and of Sony’s exclusive right to use the registered mark in commerce." Though Sony doesn't object to "the fair use of ‘Soni’ as a last name, Defendant’s current use does not constitute fair use,” said the complaint. "Defendant seeks to derive a commercial benefit from the value and goodwill associated with the SONY mark," and "unless enjoined," will continue "its unlawful activities and continue to injure Sony," it said. Soni's representatives didn’t comment Monday.

Apple landed publication Thursday of a Dec. 6 patent application on using “human sleep detection” to adjust an iPhone’s alarm setting that allows the user to get a full night’s rest, said Patent and Trademark Office records. “Most people do not fall asleep right away when they go to bed,” said the application (20190104985) listing six inventors, including sleep scientist Roy Raymann, a former Apple executive who joined the healthcare research startup SleepScore Labs two years ago. Even someone who goes to bed at “an appropriate time” to get eight hours of sleep will often end up with only six or seven hours “when the alarm goes off in the morning” because of tossing and turning during overnight periods of sleep "latency," it said. The mobile device “can help the user feel more rested by automatically adjusting an alarm,” delaying the wakeup time “based on the determined sleep onset latency,” it said. The science inside the device can also study recent sleep-latency trends to suggest "an earlier bedtime," it said. The application didn't say who would phone the boss when the alarm-delay function causes the user to oversleep. Apple didn’t comment.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman recommended U.S. District Court in Miami grant Amazon summary judgment in porn streaming service Wreal's trademark violation complaint. In a docket 14-cv-21385 report and recommendation Tuesday (in Pacer), Goodman said Wreal hadn't made a sufficient case that average consumers will confuse Wreal's pornographic FyreTV service with Amazon's Fire TV. He wrote there's no evidence of actual confusion and no proof Amazon markets Fire TV to customers interested in streaming pornography.

The International Trade Commission is investigating whether imports of data transmission devices violate Section 337 by infringing patents, the ITC announced and the Federal Register published. The probe is at the request of Data Scape and C-Scape, which say smartphones, tablets and computers from Amazon, Verizon, Apple and Cellco (dba Verizon Wireless) copy their patented technology, used in iCandy LED tickers, namely the ability to transfer data between the devices and allow changes on one device to be made in both. The ITC said it will consider whether to issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders barring import and sale of infringing data transmission devices by those companies. Tuesday, the companies didn't comment.