Implementation of President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity executive order is on an indefinite hold at most federal agencies because of the government shutdown, the effects of which vary, said industry observers. The order directed the Department of Homeland Security and National Institute of Standards and Technology to execute most provisions, though the departments of Defense and Treasury, U.S. intelligence agencies and sector-specific agencies also hold implementation responsibilities (CD Feb 14 p1). Much of the public attention related to the order has focused on NIST’s work with critical infrastructure industries to develop the voluntary Cybersecurity Framework, but observers said development of the framework will be almost entirely unaffected by even an extended shutdown. Other parts of the order will be more adversely affected by further delays, they said.
An import ban on certain older-model Samsung mobile devices was set to take effect Tuesday night after U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman declined to veto a limited exclusion order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission. The Samsung phones and tablets had been the subject of a Section 337 case Apple brought to the ITC. USTR gave Apple a reprieve from a similar import ban in August (CED Aug 15 p4). Samsung said in a statement it’s “disappointed” by the USTR’s decision, saying “it will serve only to reduce competition and limit choice for the American consumer."
Implementation of President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity executive order is on an indefinite hold at most federal agencies because of the government shutdown, the effects of which vary, said industry observers. The order directed the Department of Homeland Security and National Institute of Standards and Technology to execute most provisions, though the departments of Defense and Treasury, U.S. intelligence agencies and sector-specific agencies also hold implementation responsibilities (WID Feb 14 p1). Much of the public attention related to the order has focused on NIST’s work with critical infrastructure industries to develop the voluntary Cybersecurity Framework, but observers said development of the framework will be almost entirely unaffected by even an extended shutdown. Other parts of the order will be more adversely affected by further delays, they said.
An import ban on certain older-model Samsung mobile devices was set to take effect Tuesday night after U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman declined to veto a limited exclusion order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission. The Samsung phones and tablets had been the subject of a Section 337 case Apple brought to the ITC. USTR gave Apple a reprieve from a similar import ban in August (WID Aug 15 p9). Samsung said in a statement it’s “disappointed” by the USTR’s decision, saying “it will serve only to reduce competition and limit choice for the American consumer."
CEA is hopeful Congress might be within “striking distance” of meaningful legislation to address patent litigation abuse, said Michael Petricone, senior vice president-government and regulatory affairs. Momentum to address patent litigation abuse has increased quickly over the course of 2013, with many on Capitol Hill still viewing it as a “niche problem” at the beginning of the year, Petricone said at an event Monday meant to address legislative issues of importance to U.S. startups. “Now, they see that it’s impacting the entire economy.” Legislation to address patent litigation abuse during the 112th Congress -- including the Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes (SHIELD) Act -- focused on technology companies, but bills in the current 113th include all sectors.
CEA is hopeful Congress might be within “striking distance” of meaningful legislation to address patent litigation abuse, said Michael Petricone, senior vice president-government and regulatory affairs. Momentum to address patent litigation abuse has increased quickly over the course of 2013, with many on Capitol Hill still viewing it as a “niche problem” at the beginning of the year, Petricone said at an event Monday meant to address legislative issues of importance to U.S. startups. “Now, they see that it’s impacting the entire economy.” Legislation to address patent litigation abuse during the 112th Congress -- including the Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes (SHIELD) Act -- focused on technology companies, but bills in the current 113th include all sectors.
CEA is hopeful Congress might be within “striking distance” of meaningful legislation to address patent litigation abuse, Michael Petricone, CEA senior vice president-government and regulatory affairs, said Monday. Momentum to address patent litigation abuse has increased quickly over the course of 2013, with many on Capitol Hill still viewing it as a “niche problem” at the beginning of the year, Petricone said at an event meant to address legislative issues of importance to U.S. startups. “Now, they see that it’s impacting the entire economy,” he said. Legislation to address patent litigation abuse during the 112th Congress -- including the Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes (SHIELD) Act -- focused on technology companies, but bills in the current 113th include all sectors.
A report commissioned by the left-leaning Progressive Policy Institute argues that “progressives” should wholeheartedly back efforts to solve the problems caused by abusive patent litigation filed by patent assertion entities (http://bit.ly/151Jx1M). PAE lawsuits are “sucking the lifeblood of innovation out of the American economy,” said Shook, Hardy partner Phil Goldberg, the report’s author, during a conference call on the release the report Tuesday. PAE-initiated litigation has “mushroomed” over the past decade amid the “perfect storm” caused by the rising number of patents that resulted from the increasing economic strength of software and consumer electronics companies, Goldberg said in the report. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has seen a rapid rise in the number of patent applications over the past 20 years, and many consumer electronics include technology covered by hundreds of thousands of patents -- an average smartphone may hold technology covered by 250,000 patents, the report said. This convergence of technologies “has created seemingly endless opportunities for patent holders to allege that others’ products are infringing on their patents,” the report said.
A report commissioned by the left-leaning Progressive Policy Institute argues that “progressives” should wholeheartedly back efforts to solve the problems caused by abusive patent litigation filed by patent assertion entities (http://bit.ly/151Jx1M). PAE lawsuits are “sucking the lifeblood of innovation out of the American economy,” said Shook, Hardy partner Phil Goldberg, the report’s author, during a conference call on the release the report Tuesday. PAE-initiated litigation has “mushroomed” over the past decade amid the “perfect storm” caused by the rising number of patents that resulted from the increasing economic strength of software and consumer electronics companies, Goldberg said in the report. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has seen a rapid rise in the number of patent applications over the past 20 years, and many consumer electronics include technology covered by hundreds of thousands of patents -- an average smartphone may hold technology covered by 250,000 patents, the report said. This convergence of technologies “has created seemingly endless opportunities for patent holders to allege that others’ products are infringing on their patents,” the report said.
The private sector must be just as involved as the U.S. government in improving cybersecurity -- particularly when it comes to economic cyberespionage and intellectual property theft, said former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff Thursday. Chertoff is now of counsel at Covington & Burling and chairman of the Chertoff Group, which consults with companies on cybersecurity issues. Industry actors can no longer consider increasing their cybersecurity protections a “luxury” -- it’s now a necessary protection of economic growth and profitability, he said at a Covington & Burling-George Washington University Cybersecurity Initiative event. Cybertheft has become the “preferred pathway” for entities to steal intellectual property -- and it’s the most visible cyberthreat the U.S. faces, Chertoff said. Recent studies have confirmed the Obama administration’s position that the pace of economic cyberespionage and intellectual property theft are accelerating, Chertoff said. He said the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property (IP Commission) and others have estimated the theft of U.S. intellectual property is worth up to $300 billion annually.