The Locast service streaming broadcast signals in a small number of cities (see 1801110026) isn't now a big disruptive business threat to broadcasters but could spur a legislative battle over rewriting broadcast video rules, New Street Research analyst Blair Levin wrote investors Thursday. He said the Satellite TV Extension and Localism Act reauthorization this year could be a vehicle for some broadcasters to try to bar the type of signal retransmission that Locast is doing. He said opening that door could lead to attempts to get other amendments into a reauthorization bills that could end must carry or revise retransmission consent.
Sony will apply to trademark a new 8K HDR logo and “allow it to run its official process” at the Patent and Trademark Office, spokesperson Cheryl Goodman emailed us Tuesday. The new logo, unveiled at CES, differs slightly from the octagonal 8K HDR mark that PTO rejected on grounds that it was “merely descriptive” of Sony’s goods. The agency also cited trademark case law in ruling that the logo's black and gold graphics didn’t “create an inherently distinctive commercial impression.” PTO declared the application abandoned Feb. 2 after Sony let lapse the six-month deadline for challenging the refusal (see 1902040020). Sony ran into similar problems at PTO trying to trademark the 4K HDR logo it introduced three years ago at CES (see 1601060049). The agency killed that application Feb. 4. The 4K HDR logo is “freely available for use,” said Goodman.
The U.S., UK and Sweden have the strongest intellectual property systems, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported Thursday. They had respective overall scores of 37.98, 37.97 and 37.03, based on “40 discrete indicators covering policy, law, regulation, and enforcement.” CEO David Hirschmann said the scores seek to determine if the IP systems “provide a reliable basis for investment in the innovation and creativity lifecycle.” China ranked 25th with 19.08 and Russia 29th with 17.29.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is working to reintroduce the Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (see 1804240071) but wants to secure a lead Republican sponsor to replace retired Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., Jeffries told us Wednesday (see 1901170048). The bill as originally written would establish a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office, allowing copyright owners an alternative to bringing infringement claims to federal court. Jeffries noted support for the bill from House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., and former Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. “We’re committed to getting that [bill] done,” Collins told us. Jeffries said he’s in talks with several offices to decide who’s in the best position to lead Republicans. Collins said he supports the bill but wants another Republican to work on the legislation. The bill last year had 10 Democrat and six Republican sponsors.
The Copyright Office requests comment by March 7 on an NPRM for the Music Modernization Act's Classics Protection and Access Act portion (see 1809180057), it said Tuesday. Copyright Royalty Judges Tuesday announced final determination of rates and terms (see 1803190036) for “making and distributing phonorecords” Jan. 1, 2018-Dec. 31, 2022.
Global enterprise and consumer spending on information and communication technologies will grow 4 percent yearly, reaching $4.6 trillion by 2022, IDC forecast Monday. Business ICT spending will get “caught in the crossfire of headwinds and tailwinds over the next five years as a softening global economy puts pressure on the ability of organizations to increase technology budgets,” it said: Amid "the U.S.-China trade war," the many businesses "increasingly dependent on China" could "continue their pivot away from the U.S." while "the conflict opens up opportunities to increase exports to the U.S." Commercial and government customers will be about 64 percent of total ICT spending by 2022, consumers the rest, it said: “Increasing saturation” in smartphones and tablets will cause consumer spending growth to “lag behind” spending elsewhere.
Requests are due March 15 to participate in a Copyright Office roundtable April 8 on Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which includes safe harbor and takedowns. Friday's Federal Register notice seeks input on recent domestic case law interpreting provisions of the DMCA safe harbor framework and recent international legal and policy developments on liability for infringing content online.
The FTC hasn’t “come close to meeting its burden” in proving Qualcomm has a mobile chip monopoly (see 1811060021), the company said Wednesday, the day after closing argument in California federal court. “Real-world” evidence offered at trial shows how the chipmaker's “years of R&D and innovation fostered competition, and growth for the entire mobile economy,” benefiting consumers worldwide, said Qualcomm General Counsel Don Rosenberg. The FTC, with Apple and Intel support, in mid-January argued Qualcomm blocked competitors from entering the market by charging exorbitant royalty rates, resulting in higher phone prices for consumers. The agency didn’t comment Wednesday.
The Copyright Royalty Board is soliciting participation in a process for determining “reasonable rates and terms for two statutory licenses permitting the digital performance” of online sound recordings and the making of ephemeral recordings between Jan. 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2025. Petitions to participate, and $150 filing fees, are due Feb. 4, said Thursday’s Federal Register.
A Delaware district court didn’t err in how it construed the term “dispatch” in a case involving a patent for GPS-guided maps, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday. The ruling was a win for Verizon and affiliates Networks in Motion and Telecommunication Systems in a patent dispute with Vehicle IP. The products in question are apps on mobile devices that allow users to request navigation information, the court said: “Users provide a destination to the mobile application, which prompts the application to send an inquiry to Appellees’ servers.” Vehicle IP “appeals that construction, as well as the district court’s grant of the defendants’ motion for summary judgment of no willful infringement,” the Federal Circuit ruled. “Because the district court properly construed ‘dispatch,’ we affirm.” Judge Todd Hughes wrote the decision. Judges Kathleen O’Malley and Jimmie Reyna were the other members of the panel.