The Copyright Office is seeking public feedback on the operability of copyright.gov, the CO said Monday. Potential participants can apply via email through Jan. 14. The CO is soliciting feedback on everything but the website’s recordation system and the online registration system, eCO.
Mathematical concepts, mental processes and “certain methods of organizing human activity” qualify as abstract ideas excepted from patent eligibility, the Patent and Trademark Office said Friday. That’s one of the key changes the PTO included in guidance documents reflecting the Alice and Mayo Supreme Court decisions (see 1804180073). The guidance, in effect Monday, is open to comment until March 8. A second guidance document concerns computer-implemented inventions: “The guidance describes proper application of means-plus-function principles under § 112(f), definiteness under § 112(b), and written description and enablement under § 112(a).”
Despite partial government shutdown, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative continues “to conduct all operations,” including trade negotiations and enforcement activities, “using existing funds,” said the agency Friday. USTR Robert Lighthizer is the lead negotiator in talks with China on a comprehensive trade package that forestalled the imposition of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on the third tranche of Chinese imports, at least until March 2 (see 1812140045). “Big progress” is being made in the U.S.-China trade negotiations, tweeted President Donald Trump Saturday. “Just had a long and very good call with President Xi of China,” said Trump. “Deal is moving along very well. If made, it will be very comprehensive, covering all subjects, areas and points of dispute.”
Samsung applied Friday to register the trademark Samsung Crypto Wallet as a cryptocurrency wallet app for future Galaxy smartphones and tablets, Patent and Trademark Office records show. It filed a similar application a day earlier with U.K. trademark authorities. Samsung last week filed applications at PTO and in the U.K. to register the Samsung Blockchain Wallet trademark (see 1812260031). The company didn’t comment.
The single application can be used to “register one work that is created and solely owned by one author and is not a work made for hire” starting Jan. 28, the Copyright Office said Thursday, issuing a final rule. The application also can be used to register “one sound recording and one musical work, literary work, or dramatic work,” though “a sound recording and the work embodied in that recording are separate works,” the CO said.
Petitions to participate in the process for determining distribution of digital audio recording technology royalty fees for 2007-11 Sound Recordings Funds are due Jan. 25, the Copyright Royalty Board said Wednesday.
Samsung applied to register the trademark Samsung Blockchain Wallet as a cryptocurrency wallet app for future Galaxy smartphones and tablets, Dec. 20 at the Patent and Trademark Office, agency records show. A similar application was filed three days earlier with U.K. trademark authorities, the application shows. Samsung didn’t comment Wednesday.
The G7 ThinQ smartphone is among LG mobile devices, home electronics products and smart appliances infringing eight wireless and communications-technology patents, alleged a Bell Northern Research complaint (in Pacer) Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Diego. BNR, formed in 2017, is “successor in interest” to a “key portfolio” of IP developed at Agere, Broadcom, LSI, Renesas and others, it said. Since the G7 is advertised as being compliant with the “beamforming portions” of the 802.11ac wireless standard, the phone “contains modules operable to compute one or more channel estimate matrices from signals received from a base station,” infringing U.S. patent 7,957,450, granted in June 2011 and assigned to Broadcom, it said. BNR executives met top LG officials in Seoul at least three times in the past year, including as recently as Nov. 30, to give a “detailed presentation” of the infringement, yet LG's bad practices continued, it said. LG didn’t comment.
The Copyright Office requested comment on designation of the Music Modernization Act’s (see 1810160023) mechanical licensing collective (MLC). Initial comments are due March 21, replies April 22, the CO said Friday. The new law establishes a new blanket license for digital music providers offering downloads and interactive streaming. The MLC will develop and maintain a public database for musical works and sound recordings.
China’s foreign ministry said the U.S. must withdraw allegations against two state-linked Chinese hackers charged Thursday with intellectual-property cybercrimes (see 1812200059) or risk endangering U.S.-China trade negotiations aimed at averting a March 2 increase in Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports (see 1812140045). China urges the U.S. “to immediately correct its wrongdoings, stop defaming and discrediting China on the cybersecurity issue, and withdraw its so-called charges against the Chinese nationals so as to avoid seriously damaging bilateral relations and bilateral cooperation in relevant fields,” said a spokesperson Friday. In charging the two Chinese nationals with cybertheft, the U.S. “fabricated stories out of nothing and made unwarranted accusations against China on the cybersecurity issue,” she said. China “has been firmly opposing and cracking down on all forms of cyber espionage. The Chinese government has never participated in or supported others in stealing commercial secrets in any form.”