The International Trade Commission voted 5-0 to open a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into allegations in a July 2 Nokia complaint that Lenovo laptops, tablets, desktop PCs and components infringe four H.264 video compression patents and a fifth on user interfaces (see 2008050008), said a voting sheet (login required) posted Wednesday in docket 337-TA-1208. Lenovo has 20 days to respond to the complaint and the notice of investigation.

The International Trade Commission voted Tuesday to open a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Nokia allegations that Lenovo laptops, tablets, desktop PCs and components infringe four of its patents on H.264 video compression and a fifth on user interfaces (see 2007180001), said a notice (login required) posted Wednesday in docket 337-TA-1208. Nokia’s July 2 complaint seeks limited exclusion and cease-and-desist orders against the allegedly infringing devices and parts. Lenovo and its defenders argued in the runup to the investigation that an import ban would undermine the public interest because demand for laptops and other connectivity tools is spiking under work-from-home and remote-learning mandates. Nokia countered that Lenovo overstated its market importance and that other vendors easily could replace Lenovo’s excluded supply. Lenovo has 20 days to respond. It doesn't comment "on ongoing legal matters," emailed a spokesperson Wednesday.

The “remote play” and “share play” cloud-gaming features that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) builds into the PlayStation 4 infringe a June 9 patent (10,681,109) for a display system with a visual server to generate and transmit images to a client, alleged an Intellectual Pixels Limited (IPL) complaint (in Pacer) Friday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California: The three 3DLabs engineers who invented the technology are co-owners of IPL, which holds the patent. “SIE has been seeking to capitalize on the revolutionary technology that IPL and the inventors developed,” it said. “It has already announced its intention to release a new PS5 console that will also utilize IPL’s technology.” IPL's new action came nearly a year to the day after it sued SIE in the same court alleging infringement of four older cloud-gaming patents (see 1907260051). SIE countersued IPL Jan. 21 for a declaratory judgment of noninfringement. The case remains active, but COVID-19 delayed its discovery phase when California went into lockdown in mid-March. SIE didn’t comment Monday.

International Trade Commission Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord signed a confidential order Tuesday terminating the Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Sharp allegations that Vizio and its suppliers infringed five LCD device patents. Their joint termination motion (login required) Monday was based on a settlement agreement for Xianyang CaiHong Optoelectronics Technology, Vizio’s Chinese panel maker, to license the five patents from Sharp. The heavily redacted license agreement was signed July 21 by Sharp Display Device Co. President Taimi Oketani. The ITC voted May 20 to open the Section 337 probe and set a September 2021 target for completing it (see 2007020020).

Sony Interactive Entertainment is getting pushback from the Patent and Trademark Office on its June 22 application for a U.S. trademark on “Play has no limits” as a promotional tagline for the PlayStation 5 videogame console scheduled to debut for the holidays. Mattel’s May 2019 application for “Where play has no boundaries” predates Sony’s by more than a year, so PTO could refuse the PS5 tagline if it clears Mattel's for final registration, said the agency. Sony may “present arguments in support of registration by addressing the issue of the potential conflict" between the two applications, it said. Sony has until Jan. 21 to respond. PTO also judged the application flawed because Sony based it on foreign prior art filed in Jamaica, not Japan, Sony's "country of origin." To be granted a U.S. trademark “based on a foreign registration that will issue from the foreign application relied on for priority, the country in which the foreign application was filed must be the applicant’s country of origin,” said the agency. Sony didn’t comment Monday. Sony said June 29 the PS5 is on schedule to launch Q4 despite COVID-19 testing and production-line delays (see report, June 30).

Comments are due July 29 at the International Trade Commission on Cree’s Tariff Act Section 337 complaint (login required) seeking an investigation and import ban on LED fixtures from RAB Lighting for allegedly infringing five Cree patents on the structure and efficiency of LED lighting products. The allegedly infringing fixtures are for indoor or outdoor use in commercial and residential applications, said the July 15 complaint in docket 337-3473. The fixtures include numerous components, including bulbs, lenses and “housing structures,” it said. Cree’s requested import ban and other remedies “raise no public interest concerns,” it said. Cree and other LED product suppliers could meet demand for any excluded products, it said: “Consumers would not face any potential shortage.” RAB didn’t comment Thursday.

The National Music Publishers’ Association announced a multiyear licensing agreement with TikTok Thursday. Retroactive to May, the partnership gives NMPA members “the ability to opt-in to a licensing framework that allows them to benefit from their works,” the association said. “Music is an important part of apps like TikTok which merge songs with expression and popularize new music while also giving new life to classic songs,” NMPA CEO David Israelite said. “This agreement respects the work of creators and gives them a way to be paid for their essential contributions to the platform.”

The Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee scheduled a hearing Tuesday on fair use limitations and exceptions for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 2006090063). The hearing will be at 10 a.m. in 226 Dirksen. Witnesses are: Wikimedia Foundation Lead Public Policy Manager Sherwin Siy, National Press Photographers Association General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher, Columbia University School of Law professor Jane Ginsburg, Software and Information Industry Association Vice President-IP Christopher Mohr, songwriter Rick Beato, singer Yolanda Adams, Durie Tangri partner Joseph Gratz, Caplin & Drysdale Political Law Group co-Lead Matthew Sanderson, and Alter Kendrick partner Jacqueline Charlesworth.

Comments are due July 30 at the International Trade Commission on Maxell’s July 16 complaint (login required) alleging iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and Apple Watches infringe five Maxell mobile communications and information processing patents. Maxell seeks a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into the accusations and a limited exclusion order barring import of the allegedly infringing products. Apple didn’t comment Wednesday.

More women are “entering and staying active” in the U.S. patent system “than ever,” reported the Patent and Trademark Office Tuesday. Patents listing at least one woman inventor were 21.9% of those granted in 2019, up from 20.7% in 2016, said PTO. The “women inventor rate” share of females among all U.S. “inventor-patentees” grew to 12.8% from 12.1%, it said. New women inventor-patentees increased to 17.3% from 16.6%. There’s a decreasing “gender gap” in inventor-patentees that stay active by patenting again, it said. Of women who landed patents in 2014, 46% patented again within five years, compared with 52% for men, said PTO. The gap in 1980 was 28% women, 38% men. The share of women among all new inventor-patentees increased 17.3% by the end of 2019 from 5% in 1980, said PTO. In the five years ended 2014, the number of new women inventor-patentees grew by an average of 10.8% yearly, said the agency. Though yearly growth in the five years ended 2019 “slackened” to 4%, it's higher than males' 2.5%, the office said.