The U.S. patent system is not entirely broken, but reforms beyond the America Invents Act (AIA) are needed to fix issues the system continues to face, a group of current and former federal judges said Tuesday at an event sponsored by the Federalist Society and George Mason University School of Law’s Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property. The judges credited AIA, which Congress passed in 2011, with helping improve conditions at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

Views on government indecency policy appear to vary among TV broadcasters, our survey of industry executives and lawyers found. Whether and to what extent differences will be on display when the industry begins commenting next month on a first-of-its-kind FCC request for comment on its indecency policy (CD April 2 p1) remains to be seen. Broadcasters of all stripes remain mostly united in opposing a since-discarded tack of censuring brief on-air nudity or cursing. Yet even on that issue, President Robert Prather of Gray Television, which owns 40 stations, said he supported that policy of former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin of fining broadcasters or censuring them for fleetingly indecent content.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said the issue of retransmission consent “deserves a much longer conversation” as lawmakers prepare for the December 2014 expiration of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA). His comments came Tuesday as the subcommittee heard testimony from executives of the cable, satellite and broadcast industries. NAB President Gordon Smith and NCTA President Michael Powell urged lawmakers to avoid a regulatory overhaul of the video market, while Dish General Counsel Stanton Dodge and Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer said outdated video laws are hurting consumer choice and public interests.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell leaves office expressing some concerns about work left undone, especially on rules for an incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum and media ownership reform. McDowell, a commissioner since 2006, was a surprise choice when nominated, but was viewed as a top candidate for chairman if Mitt Romney was elected president last year. Like Chairman Julius Genachowski he plans to leave Friday, leaving behind a 2-1 commission. McDowell said Tuesday his first stop will be the Hudson Institute’s Center for Economics of the Internet, where he will be a visiting fellow.

The government continues to take steps to enhance partnerships in commercial space launches, said Maj. Justin Sutherland, a chief in the Air Force Space Operations Division. The government is taking the initial steps to implement the provisions on launch and space vehicles in the FY13 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was passed in January, he said Tuesday at a Federal Aviation Administration Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee meeting in Washington.

ABC’s Internet Protocol-based live-streaming application doesn’t change mobile DTV strategy “in the least,” an executive from the Dyle mobile DTV service told us. Instead, the coming application validates mobile DTV, proving “there is demand for live-streamed content,” said the executive, Salil Dalvi, Dyle co-general manager. Broadcasting and mobile DTV consultant John Lawson also said the app offers a cheaper streaming option than Aereo. The app still leaves a “huge opening” for a service like mobile DTV that does not require a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection, said Lawson, principal at Convergence Services.

The FCC Media Bureau eased its policy on public file violations at student-run stations. In a consent decree Monday with William Penn University in Iowa, the bureau tailored its enforcement policies toward student-run stations in the context of their educational mission, it said in a policy statement and order (http://bit.ly/17mmJeX). Last year, WPU filed a license renewal application for KIGC(FM) Oskaloosa, Iowa, but filed a number of reports after the due date, the bureau said. Instead of receiving a notice of apparent liability, the university was directed to make a $2,500 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury, the bureau said.

Promoting the free flow of data and better understanding of U.S. privacy standards should be priorities for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in trade negotiations with the EU, trade associations said in response to a call from the USTR for comments on an upcoming trade negotiation between the U.S. and the EU. Public Knowledge advocated that the negotiations -- named the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP) -- remain open and not interfere with U.S. copyright law reform.

Traditional land-mobile radio will remain critical for public safety well after FirstNet is launched, speakers said Monday at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials Broadband Summit. An NTIA official said implementation grants are likely to be awarded starting in July.