Sony’s decision putting ATSC 3.0 compatibility in its X900H series of LED-backlit 4K LCD TVs leaves it alone among the three TV vendors introducing 3.0 goods at CES in not reserving NEXTGEN TV for the upper-most tiers of their 2020 premium product lines. NEXTGEN TV compatibility will require a “software update” when the X900H line is introduced in the spring, said Sony at CES. X900H models will be available in 85-, 75-, 65- and 55-inch screen sizes, said Sony. It will position four tiers of premium TVs above the X900H line, none with the 3.0 features of the X900H offerings. They include the Z8H series of 8K LED sets at the top, followed by the Master Series and A8H lines of 4K OLED TVs and the X950H lineup of 4K LED sets. LG, in comparison, is building 3.0 compatibility into its highest tiers of 8K and 4K OLED TV products, and Samsung is emphasizing 3.0 capability in its top-of-the-line 8K QLED TVs for 2020.

The Patent and Trademark Office declared dead two December 2018 applications from Sharp’s Japanese parent company to trademark “NXT-GEN” for consumer TVs and monitors, agency records show. Both applications, one for a plain-text trademark, the other for a stylized logo, got provisional PTO approval June 4, pending Sharp’s filing of a statement of use (SOU) within six months or a request for a deadline extension. PTO ruled the applications abandoned Monday after Sharp filed neither by the Jan. 4 deadline. Agency rules require the SOU to prevent companies from hoarding trademarks they have no intention to commercialize in order just to keep them out of competitors' hands. Abandonment of the Sharp applications appears to render moot a possible controversy in CTA’s effort to register the NEXTGEN TV logo as a certification mark for ATSC 3.0 consumer products (see 1910020024). CTA risked “potential refusal” of its Sept. 25 trademark request because Sharp’s NXT-GEN filings were “prior-pending applications,” and there would have been “a likelihood of confusion between the marks,” the agency notified CTA Friday, three days before Sharp's applications died. Had they survived, CTA’s application would have faced “suspension” at the agency pending “final disposition” of the Sharp docket, said PTO. Sharp didn’t comment Wednesday on why it let its applications lapse, nor did CTA on averting the possible controversy.

Verance is adding Aspect-branded video watermarking to its suite of advertising and interactivity technologies, said the company Thursday. Aspect video watermarking “brings enhanced capabilities to the Aspect audio watermark that has already been deployed by major broadcasters,” it said.

ITU adopted ATSC 3.0 as an international recommended DTV standard, said Sinclair Thursday. The U.S. delegation starting in April pushed for that, the release said. The next step toward implementation involves updating “the ITU-sanctioned Digital Handbook” instructions for moving to 3.0, the broadcaster said. Sinclair Vice President-Spectrum Engineering and Policy Louis Libin chairs the ITU Rapporteur Group assigned to modify the Digital Handbook. “With initial U.S. deployments in place, we’re anticipating the first announcements of consumer receivers for the U.S. market in the coming days" at CES, said ATSC Board Chairman Lynn Claudy, NAB senior vice president-technology. "The decision by the ITU is yet another signal that digital terrestrial broadcasting has a bright future ahead,”

MVPD concerns about carrying ATSC 3.0 programming are “premature and well within the capabilities of broadcasters and MVPD operators to resolve themselves,” said One Media Executive Vice President-Strategic and Legal Affairs Jerald Fritz in a meeting Wednesday with FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman and Media Bureau staff, said a filing posted Friday in docket 16-142. The threat of connectivity interruption is “not a reason to delay or compromise development of the service,” Fritz said. MVPD worries that a transition to 3.0 could involve high-cost equipment stem from “a fundamental misunderstanding of the patent monetization process,” the Sinclair affiliate said. “Royalties associated with ATSC 3.0-capable devices will likely be embedded in end-user device costs,” One Media said. “It is highly unlikely that MVPD operators will notice any significant changes to reception equipment costs related to ATSC 3.0 patents."

The FCC should revisit the “arbitrary” five-year sunset of the requirement ATSC 3.0 broadcasts and 1.0 simulcasts be “substantially similar,” said NCTA in a meeting Wednesday with Media Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff, per a filing posted in docket 16-142 Monday. The substantially similar requirement and the use of the A/322 standard should be maintained “until the ATSC 3.0 marketplace is sufficiently developed,” NCTA said. The FCC should also monitor the effects of the transition on cable operators, the group said. “Allowing temporary vacant channel use instead of sharing currently used broadcast channels could impose new and unreimbursed costs on cable operators, such as costs for acquiring new receiving equipment.”

Verance joined the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance. The company's Aspect watermark platform enables the metadata and “triggers” needed for advanced emergency alerting to reach all connected TVs “across all distribution paths,” including ATSC 3.0 and 1.0 receivers, plus pay TV and over-the-top services, it said Thursday.

With ATSC 3.0 destined for the first consumer product introductions in 2020, “there are still some issues to be resolved” before MPEG LA can launch a one-stop-license 3.0 patent pool, emailed spokesperson Tom O’Reilly Tuesday. He gave no timeline for the program's debut. MPEG LA began developing the 3.0 pool more than two years ago with a formal call for essential patents. Several delays hampered the program’s debut, which previously was targeted for early 2019 (see 1903110030).

ATSC 3.0 "will lead to important gains for consumers,” Microsoft lawyers told FCC Media Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology representatives Tuesday, said a filing posted Friday in docket 16-142. “But granting a second channel to every licensee in the country” for voluntary simulcasts “is unnecessary,” it said. “Given the lack of unused spectrum in urban areas and plentitude of available simulcast partners there, urban broadcasters will readily make the transition.” The cost of leveraging a second allocated channel “is sure to be prohibitive for many,” said Microsoft. There’s “no evidence” in the proceeding of “any true need” for extra simulcast channels, it said. “Broadcasters initiated the ATSC 3.0 transition with the express representation that no additional spectrum would be necessary.” The company "misapprehends both the issue at hand and the rights to which unlicensed services are entitled," emailed NAB's spokesperson Friday. "Temporary use of available channels to smooth the transition to ATSC 3.0 remains the single most consumer-friendly step the FCC could take” here.

Expect a “bunch” of ATSC 3.0 commercial license applications to be filed at the FCC by mid-December from stations seeking to begin 3.0 services in January, Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle told us. “The work actually started back in the spring,” she said. “Business partnerships don’t happen overnight. There’s a lot happening that’s not really seen. When the application is filed, it means basically everything is done.” She expects a “steady stream” of applications will “start to come in” throughout 2020, as broadcasters fulfill their goal of activating 3.0 services in 61 U.S. markets. The commission “has done a great job” with the 3.0 commercial license program since it started collecting applications in May (see 1905230065), said Schelle. It typically approves a license within 10 days, she said. “I can’t say enough about the Media Bureau and their support for the industry when those applications come in.”