Abby North is a board member of both the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Independent Music Publishers and the International Association for Artists & Rightsholders (see 2208150042).

News organizations have “significant” copyright protections under current law, and the “challenges of funding journalism in the internet era do not appear to be copyright-specific,” the Copyright Office reported Thursday. The CO delivered the report at the request of Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chair Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; ranking member Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; and Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Chris Coons, D-Del. The CO studied press publisher protections and evaluated the viability of EU-like protections that would allow media to demand payment for “third-party online uses of their news content, specifically from large news aggregators,” the CO said. The office doesn’t believe it has been proven that “any shortcomings in copyright law pose an obstacle to incentivizing journalism or that new copyright-like protections would solve the problems that press publishers face.” The CO doesn’t recommend “adopting a new ancillary copyright to bolster press publishers’ protections.” The report confirms what Re:Create, small publishers, consumers, libraries and academics have been saying: “a link tax or other ancillary copyright protections are not necessary, effective or constitutional,” said Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel in a statement: All copyright-related policy options for supporting local journalism “must be off the table.” The report makes clear that copyright law isn’t the source or solution to journalism’s crisis, said Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose: The report “helpfully notes that creating an ancillary right (such as a right to prevent outside linking to content) would go far beyond the bounds of existing copyright law, would likely be unable to accommodate basic free speech protections, and would otherwise raise constitutional concerns.” “There’s no question that objective journalism is a public good and critical to informing voters, so we appreciate the Copyright Office’s conclusion that new, European-style regulations are not necessary given existing copyright protections for news content,” said Computer and Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers. "We were pleased that the Copyright Office recognized that the central issue is about lack of bargaining power with the dominant platforms," said News Media Alliance General Counsel Danielle Coffey. "However, they didn’t commit to a solution and that’s where Congress has stepped in," she said.

BlackBerry’s sale of its “legacy” patent portfolio for $600 million (see 2201310001) remains on hold as buyer Catapult IP Innovations works on securing the financing, said CEO John Chen on an earnings call Thursday for its fiscal Q1 ended May 31. Because the sale has taken longer than expected, BlackBerry is “no longer under exclusivity” with Catapult, and “we are free to explore new options as they come our way,” he said. “We will provide more details as and when appropriate.” Under terms of the Catapult deal, BlackBerry will get back a license to the patents being sold, which mainly involve mobile devices, messaging, wireless networking and other businesses in which BlackBerry is no longer actively involved. “We are being approached by others” seeking to buy the legacy patents, said Chen. “I am not actively looking” for buyers “or starting from square one,” he said. “I want to make sure that the shareholder knows that we are not just stuck with one option,” he said. “We do expect to see, and we would like to see, the previously announced deal with Catapult” progress to completion, he said. “We have been getting calls, and we are now responding to the calls because now the exclusivity has expired.”

Withdrawal of a 2019 policy statement on remedies for standard-essential patents subject to fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) commitment terms is the “best course of action for promoting both competition and innovation in the standards ecosystem,” DOJ said Wednesday in a joint statement with the Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Agencies made the determination after requesting public comment, following a July executive order for promoting competition. DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Jonathan Kanter said in a statement: “I am hopeful our case-by-case approach will encourage good-faith efforts to reach F/RAND licenses and create consistency for antitrust enforcement policy so that competition may flourish in this important sector of the U.S. economy.”

Eleven patent owners comprise the initial roster of licensors in the Open RAN Patent Portfolio License announced Monday by Alium, the joint venture between MPEG LA and the Unified Patents anti-patent troll consortium. Alium bills the initiative as the first patent pool “to address licensing uncertainty” in the open radio access network “infrastructure space.” Open radio access network “is a groundbreaking technology ready to blossom and grow with the availability of a pool license offering affordable access, freedom to operate, reduced litigation risk and business certainty for suppliers and users,” said Alium Manager Larry Horn, who also is MPEG LA CEO. He predicted the Alium pool license “will help speed 5G adoption and the delivery of 5G services to the public.” Royalty rates for the one-stop patent pool begin at 25 cents per “radio unit” in quantities up to 10,000, dropping to 10 cents a unit for volumes exceeding 200,000. Initial licensors are Acer, AT&T, CableLabs, Comcast, Godo Kaisha, Meta Platforms, Mitsubishi, Pantech, Philips, SK Telecom and Verizon.

The International Trade Commission assigned Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot to preside over the newly opened Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Broadband iTV allegations that cable set-top boxes from Comcast, Charter and Altice infringe four BBiTV patents on VOD and electronic program guides (see 2205270036), says a notice in docket 337-TA-1315. Commissioners voted 5-0 to launch the investigation. The ITC, in a separate order, denied the cable companies’ request for the agency to adjudicate the case through its 100-day early disposition program (see 2205100031). “It appears that certain information may not be obtainable in time to be used in a 100-day proceeding,” said the commission. BBiTV had opposed the request on grounds that early disposition would “prejudice” its case (see 2205110035).

The International Trade Commission voted to initiate a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Broadband iTV allegations that cable set-top boxes from Comcast, Charter and Altice infringe four patents on VOD and electronic program guides (see 2204280027), says a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. The complaint seeks cease and desist and limited exclusion orders.

Complainant Broadband iTV opposes the cable companies’ request for the International Trade Commission to launch a Tariff Act Section 337 patent investigation through the commission’s 100-day early disposition program because that would “prejudice” BBiTV's case, said its response posted Tuesday in docket 337-3616. Altice, Comcast and Charter told the ITC they seek rapid adjudication to determine if BBiTV satisfies the domestic industry requirement of its patent infringement complaint, noting BBiTV bases its entire domestic-industry claims on investments that licensee Dish Network made over a three-week period in December (see 2205100031). That a domestic industry exists “cannot be seriously contested,” responded BBiTV. Dish’s “domestic expenditures” to provide its pay TV service “are made almost entirely to support the products that form the basis of a domestic industry in this investigation,” it said. “Both the facts and the law weigh against the use of the early disposition program for this investigation,” it said. BBiTV alleges set-tops from Altice, Comcast and Charter infringe four patents on VOD and electronic program guide technologies, and it seeks cease and desist and limited exclusion orders against the infringing devices.

If the International Trade Commission opens a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Broadband iTV (BBiTV) allegations against Altice, Comcast and Charter, the cable companies want the ITC to use its 100-day early disposition program to determine if BBiTV satisfies the domestic industry requirement of its patent infringement complaint, they said in a filing posted Monday in docket 337-3616. BBiTV alleges set-tops from the three companies infringe four patents on VOD and electronic program guide technologies, and seeks cease and desist and limited exclusion orders against the infringing devices (see 2204280027). An ITC Section 337 complainant must show that a domestic industry exists for its asserted patents or is in the process of being established. “BBiTV does not contribute to any domestic industry in the asserted patents,” but instead relies entirely on investments made by third-party licensee Dish Network, and only between Dec. 10 and Dec. 31, “to support its allegations of a domestic industry,” said the cable companies. ITC case law shows “abbreviated” license periods call into doubt the “sufficiency” of domestic law allegations, they said. BBiTV is “a non-practicing entity that does not make any products on its own,” but rather sues other companies “to extract settlement licenses,” they said. Dish “only recently executed its license to the asserted patents to resolve litigation brought against it by BBiTV,” they said. BBiTV didn’t comment Tuesday, nor did Dish, which isn't a party to BBiTV’s complaint.

The Patent and Trademark Office will discontinue issuing paper trademark registration certificates, making them digital-only beginning June 7, says a notice for Monday’s Federal Register. Public comments the agency received “indicated a strong preference” for issuing the certificates in a “digital format,” it said. Certificates issued digitally will bear the "electronic signature" of the PTO director, plus a digital seal, "which will authenticate the registration," it said. The change will make the certificates “more accessible for trademark owners” and reduce the time it takes to receive them in the mail, it said. It also will promote PTO’s efforts “to positively impact the environment by reducing the use of paper,” it said. Trademark owners who file their initial applications before June 7 will qualify to order one “presentation copy” of their certificates for free once their registrations are approved; others will pay $25 a copy. They’re single-page condensed versions of issued registration certificates, suitable for framing, printed on heavy paper with a gold foil seal, it said.