Other Barks & Bites, Friday, October 25: CASE Act Passes House, Inventor Rally at AIPLA Meeting, Veteran IP Leaders Launch Patent Collective

This week in Other Barks & Bites: new patent collective for video technology launched; inventor rally to be held during live IPR hearing at AIPLA meeting; the White House indicates that the first phase of the U.S.-China trade deal will focus on IP; the USPTO shifts burden of proving patentability in PTAB motions to amend to the petitioner after Aqua Products; the House of Representatives passes the CASE Act in a 410-6 vote; the EU invalidates the three-dimensional trademark to the Rubik’s Cube; Power Integrations settles its patent infringement litigation against ON Semiconductor; Intel files an antitrust suit against SoftBank over patent acquisition and assertion activities; Amazon.com posts its first year-over-year earnings loss in more than two years; and the Federal Circuit overturns Google’s challenge to a Philips patent on appeal from the PTAB.

Bites

House of Representatives Passes CASE Act by Whopping 410-6 Vote – On Tuesday, October 22, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act, creating a small claims alternative forum for copyright owners to pursue infringement claims. The measure passed by a 410-6 vote.

VideoLabs, Inc. Launches Industry-Sponsored Patent Collective – IP veterans including Joe Chernesky, Bill Goldman and Ira Blumberg are spearheading an effort to offer more efficient access to patent rights in video technology in an attempt to “disrupt an inefficient patent system.” The business model is designed to provide “innovative alternatives for dealing with low-value patents and frequent nuisance-level patent assertions,” said a press release. IPWatchdog Founder and CEO Gene Quinn said of the launch, “The number of top tier companies contributing patents to this initiative demands attention, as do the names of the industry professionals involved. Hopefully the one-stop-shop approach to pooling assets will create a collective strength for patent owners and a strong enough enticement for implementers to cease efficiently infringing.”

US Inventor Rally Taking Place Today at AIPLA Annual Meeting– Today, US Inventor will be hosting an inventor rally in support of patent owner Zaxcom, whose Engineering Emmy Award-winning patented technology will be the subject of a live inter partes review (IPR) proceeding being conducted at the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Annual Meeting at the Gaylord Resort at National Harbor just outside of Washington, D.C. IPWatchdog Founder and CEO Gene Quinn will be speaking at the event.

First Phase of U.S.-China Trade Deal Will Target Intellectual Property – On Thursday, October 24, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro told reporters that the first phase of an expected trade pact between the United States and China would deal with intellectual property issues and include effective enforcement mechanisms to respond to situations of IP theft. 

DoD Requests Comments on Patent Information Collection Practices – In the past week, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) published a pair of notices and requests for comments in the Federal Register regarding patent information reporting procedures required of government contractors. On Monday, October 21, the DoD’s notice related to invention disclosure requirements, and on Thursday, October 24, the DoD’s notice related to claims of patent infringement that came to the contractor’s attention in connection with performing a government contract. 

Incorpo Research Shows 60% of Search Engine Results Show Counterfeit Goods Sites – On Wednesday, October 23, retail tech news publication Charged reported research from brand protection firm Incorpo which showed that counterfeit websites selling IP-infringing goods appear in nearly 60 percent of search engine results from major search websites like Google.

USPTO Updates Legal Guidance for Patent Electronic System – On Wednesday, October 23, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a notice in the Federal Register indicating that the agency had updated its legal framework guidance for the Patent Electronic System, which includes the EFS-Web web-based patent application submission system and the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system for electronically viewing the status of patent applications.

CAFC Affirms PTAB Finding Upholding Philips Patent Over Google Challenge – On Wednesday, October 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a decision in Google v. Koninklijke Philips affirming a decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) upholding the validity of a Philips patent on encoding audio signals for transmission after finding that Google untimely raised an invalidity ground in a reply briefing.

USPTO Proposes Rulemaking to Shift Burden of Motions to Amend Claims to PTAB Petitioners – On Tuesday, October 22, the USPTO issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register which states that the agency is proposing to move the burden of proving patentability of claims in motions to amend filed in America Invents Act (AIA) trials at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) from the moving patent owner to the AIA trial petitioner in light of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s 2017 decision in Aqua Products v. Matal and public comments on the issue solicited by the agency. 

Barks 

EU General Court Invalidates Trademark Covering 3D Appearance of Rubik’s Cube – On Thursday, October 24, the European Union’s General Court issued a decision invalidating a trademark issued by the European Union Intellectual Property Office covering the three-dimensional shape of the Rubik’s Cube after determining that the essential characteristics of the 3D shape are required to achieve the technical result of the Rubik’s Cube’s rotating functionality.

Power Integrations and ON Semiconductor Agree to $175M Settlement – On Thursday, October 24, Power Integrations announced that it had settled a 15-year patent infringement dispute against Fairchild Semiconductor, now owned by ON Semiconductor. The agreement including a $175 million cash payment to Power Integrations but doesn’t include any patent licenses to either company. 

Maxell’s Patent Claims Against Apple iPhone Apps Moves Forward – On Wednesday, October 23, U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder of the Eastern District of Texas filed an order allowing infringement claims filed by Maxell against the functionality of Apple apps such as Maps and Find My Friends to move forward toward trial, surviving a motion to dismiss from Apple. 

Lizzo Files Declaratory Judgment Over “Truth Hurts” Copyright – On Wednesday, October 23, songwriter/rapper Lizzo filed a declaratory judgment action in the Central District of California seeking a declaration that a trio of defendants didn’t co-author her 2017 song “Truth Hurts” based on their claim that they created an Internet meme that inspired one of the song’s lyrics.

Amazon Faces Patent Suit Over Content Delivery Tech in Echo, Kindle, Fire Products – On Wednesday, October 23, smart display developer CEIVA Logic filed a lawsuit in the Central District of California alleging infringement claims against e-commerce giant Amazon.com for violating patents covering methods of distributing digital images and other content incorporated into Amazon’s Echo Show, Kindle and Fire products.

Disney Issues Copyright Strikes Against YouTube Video Leaking Rise of Skywalker Photos – On Wednesday, October 23, Bounding Into Comics reported that major entertainment firm Disney issued a copyright notice taking down a YouTube video including photos allegedly leaked from the upcoming Disney film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Star Wars fans beware: there are potential spoilers in this link reporting the story).

Intel Files Antitrust Suit Against SoftBank Over Patent Acquisition Activities – On Monday, October 21, Intel Corp. filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California alleging antitrust claims against Japanese investment firm SoftBank over patent acquisition and assertion activities conducted by SoftBank’s subsidiary Fortress Investment Group.

Justin Bieber Settles Copyright Lawsuit Over Paparazzi Photograph – On Sunday, October 20, photographer Robert Barbera filed documents in the Southern District of New York dismissing a copyright infringement suit filed the previous week against pop music star Justin Bieber after the two sides reached an undisclosed settlement over Bieber’s unauthorized sharing via Instagram of a picture of himself taken by Barbera. 

This Week on Wall Street 

Amazon Misses Analyst Estimates, Reports Quarterly Earnings Drop for First Time in Two Years – On Thursday, October 24, Amazon.com reported earnings for the third quarter of 2019 in which the company indicated that earnings per share (EPS) were $4.23 per share, a drop from the $5.75 EPS reported by the company during 2018’s third quarter and the first time Amazon has reported a year-over-year decline in EPS in more than two years.

Intel Earnings Beat Sends Stock Up by 8% – On Thursday, October 24, Intel reported earnings for 2019’s third quarter in which it beat analyst expectations on earnings, posting $1.42 EPS over a predicted $1.24 EPS, and beat analysts’ quarterly revenue forecast by more than $1 billion, helping shares of Intel stock increase by as much as 8 percent in same-day trading.

Quarterly Earnings – The following firms identified among the IPO’s Top 300 Patent Recipients for 2018 are announcing quarterly earnings next week (2018 rank in parentheses):

• Monday: Alphabet Inc. (6th); AT&T Corp. (26th); Canon Inc. (3rd); Fanuc Corp. (95th); Koninklijke Philips N.V. (38th); Nitto Denko Corp. (t-202nd); NXP B.V. (t-126th); T-Mobile, USA, Inc. (t-238th)
• Tuesday: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (t-214th); Eaton Corp. (169th); Fujitsu Ltd. (t-34th); Hitachi High-Technologies Corp. (t-216th); Hitachi Metals Ltd. (t-278th); LG Innotek Co., Ltd. (87th); Merck & Co., Inc. (t-178th); NTT Docomo, Inc. (t-197th); Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. (106th); Shimano Inc. (t-209th); Sprint Corp. (91st); ZTE Corp. (94th)
• Wednesday: Airbus SE (t-241st); Apple, Inc. (11th); Bayer AG (50th); Cirrus Logic, Inc. (t-299th); Facebook, Inc. (65th); General Electric Co. (4th); Hitachi, Ltd. (90th); LG Electronics Inc. (7th); Motorola Solutions, Inc. (t-297th); Seiko Epson Corp. (24th); Sony Corp. (18th); United Microelectronics Corp. (104th); Western Digital Technologies, Inc. (116th)
• Thursday: Borgwarner Inc. (176th); Delta Electronics Inc. (t-233rd); Denso Corp. (39th); DuPont (86th); InterDigital Wireless Inc. (122nd); Kyocera Corp. (84th); Nintendo Co., Ltd. (t-292nd); Panasonic Corp. (27th); Qorvo US, Inc. (t-209th); Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (2nd); Tokyo Electron Ltd. (97th); Toyoda Gosei K.K. (t-297th)
• Friday: Colgate-Palmolive Co. (t-262nd); ExxonMobil Corp. (100th); Konica Minolta, Inc. (t-67th); Ricoh Co., Ltd. (32nd); Sharp Corp. (58th); Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (160th)

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