The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began an interagency review for a proposed Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security rule to control “software” for operation of “automated nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers." BIS will request comment and OIRA received the rule Monday.
No company “has an obligation to commit its patents to a standard,” commented the App Association Monday (login required) in opposition to Nokia’s Tariff Act Section 337 complaint at the International Trade Commission alleging Lenovo laptops, tablets and desktop PCs infringe four H.264 patents, plus a fifth on data search and discovery (see 2007080048). When a company volunteers to commit its patents to a standard, “as Nokia has,” the “promise” it makes to the standard-setting organization to license the intellectual property on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms “acts as a crucial constraint on the abuse of market power” associated with standards-essential patents (SEPs), said the group. App Association members “rely on a competitive information and communications technology hardware environment, specifically with respect to SEP licensing,” it said. Without that, members would be “significantly hampered” in providing U.S. consumers and enterprises “with leading-edge software and hardware products and services that require an increasing amount of bandwidth and computing power to meet customer demands,” it said. The exclusion order Nokia seeks “should only receive consideration” when a licensee is “demonstrably acting unreasonable” or is acting “outside of the scope of the SEP holder’s voluntary FRAND commitment,” said the association. Lenovo is guilty of neither, it said: “SEP holders denied an exclusion order do not become disenfranchised as they have the ability to recover monetary damages through the courts.”
Some in the tech sector backed fighting Nokia’s July 2 International Trade Commission complaint on banning imports of Lenovo laptops, tablets and desktop PCs for allegedly violating five patents. That would block access to affordable Lenovo Chromebook computers, said Google Friday (login required): As most schools worldwide “have begun adopting online learning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, demand for mobile computing devices from many countries’ K-12 education sectors has been rising with Chromebooks currently seeing the highest shipments.” The Computer & Communications Industry Association commented against Nokia’s assertion that excluding Lenovo PCs won’t harm the public health and safety. “That does not reflect modern society,” said CCIA. “Computers are no longer optional entertainment devices.” They're the “main or even exclusive portholes through which nearly every American interfaces with nearly every aspect of modern life,” especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. Four of Nokia’s “asserted” inventions on video compression are H.264 “standard-essential patents” (SEPs), wrote Lenovo in docket 337-3466. The fifth describes user interfaces for better information searches through communications devices. Nokia committed to license SEPs to anyone on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, said the PC maker. The FTC warns such SEP-based exclusions “may adversely affect competitive conditions and harm consumers,” said Lenovo, citing a March 2011 FTC report on the “evolving” intellectual property marketplace and the need to align patent "remedies" with competition. The report recommended the ITC “consider these adverse effects in evaluating the public interest impact of proposed remedial orders,” said Lenovo. Nokia didn't comment Monday.
Samsung is gearing up for Galaxy Unpacked, its annual summer mobile launch event. The Aug. 5 reveal is the first to be broadcast live from South Korea. New York was Samsung's pre-COVID locale of choice for such events. Innovation, collaboration and mobile agility are Samsung's top priorities in the new era it's calling the “Next Normal,” blogged Mobile Communications Business President TM Roh Monday. He cited roles mobile tech has played during the pandemic in distance learning, at-home fitness and online concerts. Samsung plans to bow five new “power devices” next month, said the executive, referencing handsets, hearables and wrist-worn products. Next-generation mobile solutions will have features that improve video-chat technology and help frontline workers “stay safe on the job,” he said. Roh referenced more personal, intelligent, useful and secure technology and a next-generation of foldable phones. The “wide range” of Galaxy 5G devices, available in more markets, will enable experiences “we can’t even imagine yet.” Samsung is continuing to collaborate with partners Google, Microsoft, Netflix and Spotify, and expanded its relationship with Microsoft so Galaxy smartphones and Windows PCs can share messages, photos and calendar reminders in real time, Roh said. Samsung will expand the Microsoft relationship through a gaming partnership with Xbox, he said.
LG Electronics Chief Technology Officer Park Il-Pyung will keynote the global news conference at IFA 2020 Special Edition, said show organizers Friday. The sharply downsized in-person event is Sept. 3-5 and will be livestreamed (see 2005190035). IFA didn’t say what date Park will appear or whether he will attend physically or virtually. Organizers didn’t respond to emails Friday. “LG will take part in IFA 2020 Special Edition and focus on the consumer situation in times of the new normal,” they said. Rival Samsung announced this month it was pulling out of IFA and will stage its own virtual event in early September (see 2007020030).
The International Trade Commission seeks $2.75 million more for FY 2020, without which it “faces a high risk of failing to successfully carry out” the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade, Chair Jason Kearns wrote House Commerce Subcommittee leadership Wednesday. The ITC also risks “not meeting its other statutory responsibilities” next fiscal year, “due to a historic increase in workload for all investigative areas,” said Kearns. Unfair import investigations under Tariff Act Section 337 “have remained at historically high levels,” he said. Trump administrative trade policy actions resulted in a “substantial number of revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, he said. ITC staff have completed 22 HTS revisions this year, compared with the historical “context” of two or three revisions annually, he said.
China is conducting an “economic blitzkrieg” to surpass the U.S. as the “world’s preeminent superpower,” Attorney General William Barr told a group at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum Thursday in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A “centerpiece” of the effort is its Made in China 2025 industrial policy for “domination of high-tech industries like robotics, advanced information technology, aviation, and electric vehicles,” said Barr. “Backed by hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, this initiative poses a real threat to U.S. technological leadership.” It defies World Trade Organization rules prohibiting quotas for domestic output, he said. It sets targets for domestic market share as high as 70% “in core components and basic materials for industries such as robotics and telecommunications,” he said. It’s clear that China “seeks not merely to join the ranks of other advanced industrial economies, but to replace them altogether,” said Barr. The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry didn’t comment.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seeks comment by Aug. 14 in a docket whether it should extend recently granted and forthcoming List 4A tariff exclusions on Chinese imports for up to a year beyond Sept. 1, said a notice. Its evaluation will focus on whether a product remains available only from China, despite imposition of the List 4A tariffs in September, it said: Importers should describe any changes in the global supply chain since List 4A took effect and what they did to source the product from the U.S. or a third country.
COVID-19 focused worldwide attention on drones, speakers said during an Akin Gump webinar Wednesday. The pandemic “created an environment … we have not seen before,” said Ruby Sayyed, International Air Transport Association acting director air-transport movement infrastructure. The need for remote access to facilities for security, inspection or disinfection “increased because of the pandemic,” but safety is critical for the public to accept more use of drones, she said. “When we look at integrating drones into the supply chain, it’s going to take more than just technologies to enable that and to make that scalable to different locations and regions,” Sayyed said. Mark Wuennenberg, Drone Delivery Canada vice president-regulatory affairs, said his company trialed delivery of supplies to a remote first-nation community on an island. The normal mode of delivery is by helicopter with a cost of $1,300 hourly, he said. Drones can reduce that 80-90%, he said. The island community’s goal is to have zero COVID-19 cases because of limited healthcare services, Wuennenberg said. “They can very quickly become overwhelmed and the best method to address the threat is simply not have contact” with outsiders, he said. The company wants to enter the U.S. market and is seeking more harmonization with rules here, he said. “That will do wonders for the U.S. industry.” Building trust with government is important to getting regulations right, Wuennenberg said, noting Canada has been looking at drone rules for six years. “It was important to start early so we understood the box in which we were operating,” he said. Since March, Kenya-based Astral Aviation has been delivering COVID supplies to 26 countries in Africa using manned flights, said CEO Sanjeev Gadhia. Africa is made up of 54 countries, which is a challenge, he said. The “good news” is that after a three-year process, Kenya has rules, which are being harmonized with other nations in East Africa, he said. Drones are being used in Africa for broadcasting the importance of social distancing and spraying hot spots, he said. Once vaccines are developed, a challenge will be getting them everywhere, especially since they have limited shelf life, Gadhia said. Drones can help with last-mile delivery, he said: “We believe Africa is the perfect testing ground. This is the place where we have the worst infrastructure and a lot of challenges with accessibility and connectivity.”
With tech industry eyes trained on the fate of the Jan. 6-9 CES 2021 in Las Vegas amid COVID-19, CTA with little fanfare announced Monday it was canceling all CES Asia shows. The pandemic forced the mid-March cancellation of the 2020 CES Asia that was set for June 10-12 in Shanghai (see 2003110036). “We evaluate our events in light of the changing needs of our industry and the priorities of our members and exhibitors,” said CTA. “Given the pandemic, the economy, and our visible role as an American trade association, we have decided to focus on other CES related programs.” The State Department issued a "China -- Level 4: Do Not Travel" advisory June 4 for U.S. nationals. The Shanghai government mandates a 14-day quarantine for foreign visitors.