The Thread Group is expected to have product certification in place in the first half of 2015 for its IP-based low-power wireless networking protocol, the alliance said Tuesday. UL will manage the product certification process for Thread with support from Granite River Labs, which will work with UL to develop the “test harness” developers will use in building, testing and certifying Thread-enabled products. Recent high-profile additions to membership, now at 50 companies, include Energizer, Kwikset, PG&E and Whirlpool. Other Thread Group member companies are Atmel, California Eastern Laboratories, Inc., CamPoint, GainSpan, Granite River Labs, Grid Connect, Imagination Technologies, Insteon, Intellihot Green Technologies Inc., iOT Tech, Jasco, Keen Home, Kwikset, leakSMART, Linx Technologies, LUX Technology Group, Marvell Technology Group, Midea Group, Nanoleaf, Net2grid, Pacific Gas & Electric, Proximetry, Salto Systems, Sansa Security, Shenzhen Rakwireless Technology, Skyley Networks, Stack Lighting, Telegesis, TÜV Rheinland Group, Tyco, UL, WigWag and Zonefirst. Three tiers of membership to Thread are available: sponsor, contributor and affiliate, it said.

Global patent filing increased 9 percent in 2013, said a World Intellectual Property Organization report released Tuesday. China’s patent filing increased 26 percent in 2013, reaching 25 percent of all patent filings worldwide, said the report. The U.S. had the second highest number of patent filings, which grew 5 percent in 2013, said WIPO. The European Patent Office had a 0.4 percent decline in patent filings; Japan’s filings slowed by 4 percent. Trademark filings grew by 6 percent globally in 2013. WIPO said China’s 14 percent growth in trademark filings was the highest globally; such filings increased by 13 percent in the U.S.

E-readers, whose primary purpose isn't advanced communications services, nonetheless are adding accessibility features, said a group of device makers seeking a longer waiver (see 1411120048) of FCC rules requiring accessibility. Improvements to "a number of products and services" show the commitment to accessibility by members of the waiver-extension-seeking Coalition of E-Reader Manufacturers, said that coalition in an ex parte letter posted Monday to docket 10-213. It responded to the National Federation of the Blind, which opposes a waiver extension, and other groups. The coalition said accessibility has been addressed by members including Amazon, which introduced the accessible Fire phone, and Sony, which developed entertainment access glasses with audio. Kobo is also a coalition member, and the group said the company has "maintained a number of accessibility features on its e-readers."

That talks at the World Trade Organization on expanding and updating the 17-year-old Information Technology Agreement failed to reach a consensus over "product coverage" issues is "to be sure ... a disappointment," said Sage Chandler, CEA vice president-international trade, in a statement sourced from Geneva. CEA said Chandler attended "the entirety of the talks." The ITA "hasn’t been updated since it was created 17 years ago," she said. "By expanding the ITA, we could remove tariffs on an estimated additional $800 billion in information and communication technology trade globally. Including modern technology products in an updated ITA is critical to making sure the agreement’s many benefits will extend to consumers around the world." Members of the National Association of Manufacturers also "are greatly disappointed by the failure to move forward an expanded ITA," said Linda Dempsey, NAM vice president-international economic affairs, in a separate statement. "The original 17-year old ITA has been hugely important in driving innovation and productivity for the broad range of manufacturing industries in the United States and globally. Manufacturers urge negotiators to come back to the table as early as possible in the new year to agree to a strong product list in order to unlock much needed growth opportunities for manufacturers and their workers."

The Federal Aviation Administration’s final rule for small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations and other key requirements defined in the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act remain incomplete, said a GAO report released Wednesday. FAA officials have indicated that they are hoping to issue a rulemaking notice soon, with a timeline for issuing the final rule in late 2016 or early 2017, the report said. Although the FAA established the test sites required in the act, some test site operators “are uncertain about what research should be done at the site, and believe incentives are needed for industry to use the test sites,” the report said. Absent regulations, “unauthorized UAS operations have, in some instances, compromised safety,” it said. FAA granted seven exemptions for the filmmaking industry as of Dec. 4, it said (see 1406030065). More than 140 applications awaited review for other industries for uses like electric power line monitoring, the report said.

An unusual amount of network congestion occurred the last two weeks of September, which seemed to affect measurements for the Measuring Broadband America program, FCC officials told an industry meeting in October, said an agency notice released Wednesday. SamKnows, which is doing measurements for the FCC, had to extend the collection period for results to the first three weeks of October to collect enough data for the 2015 broadband measurement report, the FCC said. “The cause of this unusual network congestion was suspected to be the software release by Apple of iOS 8,” officials said.

The U.S. market for drones will reach $15 billion in 2020, said an Information Gatekeepers study released Monday. That’s compared with $5 billion in 2013, it said. Commercial applications for drones include agriculture, real estate and electrical utilities. The drone market is expected to have “significant growth” in 2015 after the Federal Aviation Administration rules on drone access for national airspace, it said.

“Common sense should prevail” and Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules shouldn't apply to isolated, immediate, one-time responses to consumer-initiated requests for text offers, a lawyer for the Retail Industry Leaders Association said in a call with Mark Stone, deputy chief of the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. RILA sought clarity on TCPA rules in a 2013 petition. “If a consumer sends a text to an entity requesting particular information, the entity sending a one-time response with the precise information requested by that consumer should not be subject to TCPA liability,” the group said in a filing in docket 02-278, posted by the FCC Friday.

Wireless mic maker Shure asked the FCC to extend by 45 days comment deadlines on two NPRMs examining the future of the devices in 600 MHz spectrum. “An extension is warranted because the Notices propose many substantial changes in technical and operational rules that will require significant evaluation, testing and analysis,” Shure said in a motion filed in docket 12-268: “The filing periods encompass the winter holidays when many team members will be out of the office and traveling.” Without an extension, comments would be due Feb. 19, replies March 12. Shure said the proposed rule changes would “dramatically alter wireless microphone operations and virtually restructure the entire wireless microphone industry” in the U.S. In October, the FCC approved the NPRMs, which seek comment on unlicensed use of the TV spectrum following the incentive auction and more specifically rules for wireless mics.

Pandora released a beta version of a new mobile interface for its customers, said a company news release Tuesday. The interface, which will roll out to all Pandora users over the next several months, is available for 3 percent of Pandora’s iPhone and Android smartphone users.