Samsung is seeking trademark protection for the “8-Point Battery Safety Check" nomenclature it used last week to describe the safety protocol it put in place to prevent a repeat of the Galaxy Note7 fiasco (see 1701230048). Patent and Trademark Office records show Samsung applied to register the term Jan. 23, the same day it called a Seoul news conference to announce the checklist protocol it said would address device safety "from the component level to the assembly and shipment of devices." The company “has a bona fide intention, and is entitled, to use the mark in commerce on or in connection with the identified goods/services,” said the application. It lists mobile phones as a category of product that could carry the trademark, but also a range of other consumer goods, including TVs, tablets and wireless headsets.
The Copyright Office extended to Feb. 21 the deadline for submitting comments on its second round of questions on the office's study of Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512's notice-and-takedown process and the section's safe harbors. Stakeholders can submit empirical studies related to Section 512 through March 22, the CO said in Friday's Federal Register. The second round of questions is on balance in the internet ecosystem and how lawmakers should factor diverging views of the efficacy of Section 512's safe harbors. The CO also sought comment on recommendations for modifying Section 512 to reflect changes to copyright case law (see 1611080021).
Less Government President Seton Motley urged President Donald Trump to remove Michelle Lee as Patent and Trademark Office director. House IP Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and the Computer & Communications Industry Association separately praised Trump's apparent decision to keep Lee at PTO, based on news reports (see 1701190046). The White House and PTO haven't confirmed that Lee will keep her position, leading Motley to suggest in a RedState blog post that Trump “should not” keep her on. Lee “is antithetical to the position of USPTO Director -- and Trump’s desire for IP protection enforcement,” Motley said. He said, given Trump's IP rights protection goals, Lee's past experience as Google's head of patents and patent strategy, when coupled with perceptions that former President Barack Obama's administration was pro-Google, make her a bad fit to lead PTO. “Trump should instead appoint someone who shares his respect for IP and patents” to lead the office, Motley said. PTO didn't comment.
Global Music Rights filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia seeking to dismiss the Radio Music License Committee's antitrust lawsuit against the performing rights organization or to transfer the venue. RMLC sued in November (see 1611210011), claiming GMR was seeking “monopoly” licensing rates from member terrestrial radio stations that are about three times the fees paid by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. GMR subsequently sued RMLC in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on antitrust claims (see 1612090062). The entities reached a temporary licensing agreement in late December that didn't end their suits (see 1612270052). GMR said in Friday's motion (in Pacer) that the Philadelphia court is an improper forum for litigating RMLC's claims, and also doesn't have “personal jurisdiction” over the Los Angeles-based PRO. RMLC's claim fails to include any “direct evidence” of “actual prices” to back up its claim about GMR's market power, the PRO said. “This defect is critical, since market power is the ability to 'control prices' without forfeiting market share,” GMR said. “RMLC has not alleged that GMR controls market prices, much less that it could profitably do so.” RMLC's claims rest only on licensing offers “that GMR allegedly made in the course of unsuccessful negotiations,” the PRO said. “Market power cannot be inferred from price demands that were rejected.” RMLC's pursuit of a rate court process for GMR's licensing prices “would stifle competition, neutralize GMR as a competitor in the music licensing market, rewrite the Copyright Act, and usurp the legislative prerogative of Congress, since the Copyright Act expressly does not require a compulsory license or rate for public performance licenses of compositions,” GMR said. RMLC didn't comment Monday.
CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures settled their copyright infringement lawsuit against the makers of a Star Trek fan film (see 1609300002), said a joint stipulation (in Pacer) of voluntary dismissal filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Terms weren't disclosed.
The Copyright Office is initiating a study on how existing U.S. law protects the moral rights of attribution and integrity, it said Monday. The CO had been expected to initiate a formal analysis of the moral rights issue after it held a symposium on the topic last year. House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., also sought the study (see 1604180069). Stakeholders said then that a formal analysis of moral rights probably won’t lead to the CO changing its position on how U.S. law should deal with moral rights to satisfy the requirements of the Berne Convention (see 1604150074). The moral rights study will examine whether changes in U.S. law are needed to protect moral rights, the CO said in Monday's Federal Register. The House and Senate Judiciary committees previously accepted that moral rights are protected under the Lanham Act and other statutes. The CO sought feedback on how effective those existing laws are in protecting moral rights and whether updates to those laws are needed. The CO sought feedback on how “stronger protections” for either the right of attribution or the right of integrity would affect the First Amendment. The office also sought input on possible exceptions to an explicit moral rights statute, and possible voluntary actions to strengthen moral rights protections. Comments are due March 9, replies April 24.
If plaintiffs CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures seek statutory damages in their copyright infringement lawsuit against the makers of an online Star Trek fan film (see 1609300002), the court should let defendants Axanar Productions and principal Alec Peters present evidence to the jury about all the factors relevant to a statutory damages analysis, including CBS/Paramount's "lost revenues (or lack thereof) and the conduct and attitude of the parties," Axanar/Peters said in a brief (in Pacer) Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Such evidence would include public statements by J.J. Abrams, director of the 2009 Star Trek motion picture, and Justin Lin, director of 2016's Star Trek Beyond, supporting the end of the suit since the statements show the Axanar defendants "acted in good faith and with the reasonable belief that they were operating within the enduring tradition of accepted and celebrated Star Trek-inspired fan fiction," they said. Axanar defendants said if CBS and Paramount aren't allowed to offer evidence about actual damages to the plaintiffs, they should be precluded from offering evidence about Axanar's purported profit. CBS/Paramount didn't comment Thursday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a 2015 Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling rejecting a patent violation claim by Monkeymedia against Apple, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Lions Gate Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Brothers Home Entertainment. Wednesday's ruling without comment came less than a week after Jan. 13 oral argument before Judges Alan Lourie, Evan Wallach and Todd Hughes. According to court filings, the patent described systems and methods for transmitting interactive media content that would let the user choose to play optional content such as an additional video, still images or text. Monkeymedia is pursuing similar patent violation claims involving a related patent against Apple and Buena Vista.
News reports that Michelle Lee will keep her job as Patent and Trademark Office director in the Trump administration are welcome, said Computer & Communications Industry Association Thursday in a statement. "This is a wise decision, bringing continuity to critical issues at a critical time. It supports the patent office’s ongoing efforts to improve patent quality under Lee’s leadership," said CCIA President Ed Black. The group's patent counsel, Matt Levy, said Lee's initiatives to enhance patent quality should be continued under her leadership. "There is still much work remaining to streamline and enhance the process of reviewing patent applications, and I think that Director Lee has shown that she is someone who can move that work forward," he said. Politico had reported that Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told a tech industry gathering about the reappointment of Lee, who met with commerce secretary-nominee Wilbur Ross earlier in the week (see 1701180069). The Trump transition team didn't comment.
President-elect Donald Trump will likely take “a businessman’s approach" to intellectual-property issues, said American Enterprise Institute Visiting Fellow Thomas Sydnor. That means “one that focuses on practical issues, like cost-effective enforceability,” Sydnor wrote in a Wednesday blog post. What Trump will do on intellectual property may be easier to predict than other policy areas, Sydnor said. “President-elect Trump will soon become -- by far -- the most experienced user of domestic and international IP rights ever to serve as the President of the United States,” he said. “During his long business career, Mr. Trump pursued sophisticated, usually unified, branding strategies based upon his last name, had great success in the copyright industries, and has used the IP-like rights granted by state laws that protect reputational, privacy, and publicity rights.” Trump should focus on making it easier for businesses to enforce their IP rights, said Sydnor. He should support legislative efforts to overhaul the Copyright Office, like the one by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the AEI fellow said. Trump should oppose sub-market compulsory licenses including American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers/Broadcast Music Inc. consent decrees from the 1940s, Sydnor said. Trump opposed free trade agreements, but he should consider renegotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership, Sydnor said. Or the U.S. Trade Representative could better enforce existing trade agreements, he said.