Sea Launch said the Odyssey launch platform and the Sea Launch Commander were returning to their home port of Long Beach, Cal., Thurs., following the unsuccessful launch on Jan. 30. Sea Launch said it will fully assess the damage to Odyssey when it reaches Long Beach. Odyssey has lost its flame deflector, located below the launch pad, and the aft doors are off their supports, but Sea Launch said preliminary assessments indicate other launch support equipment is in good condition.

PS3’s $499.99 and $599.99 pricing is no “impediment” to sales of the console, Activision CEO Robert Kotick told analysts in a quarterly earnings call Wed. “There is still sufficient consumer demand with the price point where it is but obviously we would expect to see a price decline over time,” said Kotick.

Sun.’s CBS Super Bowl broadcast likely won’t draw indecency complaints to the FCC from Parents TV Council (PTC) members - unlike previous football playoff games -- said PTC officials. Citing preliminary feedback from PTC members, officials said the show didn’t appear to feature indecent material. “I really didn’t see anything that caused me a great deal of concern,” Senior Programs Dir. Melissa Caldwell said: “Compared to years past… there was nothing that stood out to me this year.” A $550,000 Commission fine over Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during the 2004 Super Bowl is the subject of a CBS lawsuit against the FCC in 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia. - JM

DirecTV can’t run TV and online ads for its HDTV service claiming the product to be superior to a similar one from Time Warner Cable (TWC), said a Mon. order from U.S. Dist. Judge Laura Swain, N.Y.C. She granted the cable operator’s request for a preliminary injunction barring the ads from TWC markets. Star Trek’s William Shatner and singer Jessica Simpson are in the ads, which claim: “For picture quality that beats cable, you've got to get DirecTV.” After TWC complained, DirecTV removed the line. DirecTV argued the original ads weren’t “literally false.” Swain disagreed. A DirecTV official didn’t return a message seeking comment.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated a new shipper review for the antidumping (AD) duty order on honey from China with respect to the following exporter/producer and review period:

Rent-a-Center (RAC) swung to a $2.3 million Q4 net loss, from a $35.1 million profit a year earlier, as it created a $58 million reserve to fund a possible legal settlement after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected its petition for review. RAC had challenged a N.J. Supreme Court finding that it fell under the same interest rate caps in N.J. as other retailers taking installment payments.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of certain preserved mushrooms from India for the period of February 1, 2005 through January 31, 2006.

A federal judge is expected to issue a preliminary injunction barring inventor Till Keesmann from selling part of Nano-Proprietary’s carbon nanotube technology. Nano- Proprietary, which licensed carbon nanotube technology from Keesmann in 2000, would suffer “irreparable damage” to its business if he cuts off the license and sells the patents, U.S. Dist. Judge Wayne Anderson, Chicago, said in a 15-page decision. Nano-Proprietary’s motion for a preliminary injunction will be granted once a bond is set, Anderson said. A bond hearing is set this month, he said. Nano-Proprietary also is embroiled in a legal battle with Canon over an alleged breach of their licensing agreement, but that case doesn’t appear linked to the Keesmann suit. Nano-Proprietary paid Keesmann $1.2 million in royalties in May 2004 under their agreement. In late 2005, Keesmann asked Nano- Proprietary for the right to auction off its interest in the pact. Nano-Proprietary rejected Keesmann’s request, arguing that it wouldn’t release the patents for less than $200 million. Keesmann, who sought to sell the patents to NPV Nano Patent Gmbh, tried to terminate the deal in March 2005, alleging that Nano-Proprietary didn’t “actively market” the 3 patents and “failed” to identify companies may have infringed the IP. Nano-Proprietary, however, helped Keesmann get 3 patents reissued, contacted 19 CE companies regarding the technology and made developmental sales to 18 research groups, Anderson said. It also promoted the technology at trade shows, he said. Keesmann and Nano-Proprietary agreed the market for the patents may be worth “hundreds of millions, if not billions” of dollars, but “no commercial application” for them exists yet, Anderson said. “We believe that Nano-Proprietary has adequately established that it actively marketed the sublicense agreements,” he said. Nano- Proprietary also discussed with Keesmann on “several occasions” 2002-2005 whether any of the patents were being “illicitly used” by other companies developing carbon nanotube technology, Anderson said. Nano-Proprietary wasn’t “negligent” in “identifying infringers,” he said. Nano- Proprietary also complied with an audit request but disagreed on its scope and required Keesmann sign a non-disclosure pact. Nano-Proprietary’s attempts to change Keesman’s rights to the records is “somewhat troubling,” its response to the audit was “reasonable,” Anderson said.

New Games and Accessories: Graffiti Entertainment “received vendor approval from major retailers” including Amazon.com and Toys “R” Us, the Signature Devices game subsidiary said as it started shipping the PC game Crazy Frog Racer, developed by Neko Entertainment. “Expanding our retail distribution and the marketing channels we have available to us… puts us in an enviable position to acquire several more titles from independent developers to publish during 2007, as well as provide a receptive market for a number of games we are producing internally,” said CEO Kenneth Hurley… Capcom’s Xbox 360 game Lost Planet: Extreme Condition was again the #1-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Jan. 28…. One Voice Technologies’ Media Center Communicator v3 for Windows Vista “will allow users to simply speak to play music [and] videos, watch recorded TV or play photo slideshows on Xbox 360” consoles, it said Thurs. The Communicator “can control up to 5 Xbox 360 game consoles connected to a Windows Vista computer,” it said. Pricing and availability haven’t been announced… Since launching Sept. 28, Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl for DS “shipped a record-breaking 5 million units to retailers in Japan, making them the fastest-selling Pokemon games ever,” Nintendo of America (NOA) said Thurs. More than 155 million units of games in the Pokemon series had been sold through Sept. 28, it said. Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl will ship April 22 in the U.S.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of stainless steel sheet and strip in coils from Korea for the period of July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005.