Other Barks & Bites, Friday May 24: Coons Requests Info on Alexa Privacy, Congress Pushes 101 Reform, and Qualcomm Will Appeal Its Loss to the FTC

This week in Other Barks & Bites: Chinese state media pushes back on the United States’ claims of intellectual property theft; a bipartisan coalition from both houses of Congress releases a draft proposal of Section 101 patent law reform; Senator Coons seeks more information on Amazon’s privacy practices for Alexa devices; the city of Baltimore files a lawsuit over a scheme to delay market entry of a generic to the Zytiga prostate cancer treatment; the USITC institutes a patent infringement investigation of Comcast after several complaints from Rovi; USPTO Deputy Director Peters files a petition brief in a Supreme Court case over USPTO personnel expenses incurred during litigation instigated by patent applicants; and Qualcomm plans to appeal adverse ruling in Northern California antitrust case brought by the FTC.

Bites 

Bipartisan, Bicameral Group Release Draft Proposal for Section 101 Reform – Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE), along with Representatives Hank Johnson (D-GA), Doug Collins (R-GA) and Steve Stivers (R-OH), have released a draft bill outlining a new framework to reform 35 U.S.C. § 101 to address patent eligibility concerns created by recent U.S. Supreme Court case law. 

Senator Coons Sends Letter to Amazon About Alexa Privacy Concerns – Sen. Chris Coons sent a letter to e-commerce giant Amazon Thursday requesting information regarding the company’s privacy and data security practices for Alexa devices after news reports that Amazon archives text transcripts of user voices recorded by Alexa devices.

Chinese State Media Calls U.S. Intellectual Property Claims a “Political Tool” – On Monday, May 20, Chinese state media publication People’s Daily published an op-ed which said that claims of intellectual property theft by the U.S. government were a “political tool” and that fabricated data was used in the March 2018 Section 301 report to support the claim that China had stolen billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. IP. 

Qualcomm to Appeal Adverse Ruling in FTC Antitrust Case Over Patent License Policy – News reports indicate that semiconductor developer Qualcomm Inc. planned to appeal the May 21 order by Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California, which held that Qualcomm’s “no license, no chips” policy with its customers was an anticompetitive business practice. 

USPTO Deputy Director Peter Files Brief in SCOTUS Case on Litigation Expenses – Laura Peter, the Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, has filed a brief for the petitioner in Peter v. NantKwest. The case will ask the Supreme Court to determine whether a patent applicant seeking judicial review in U.S. district court of a USPTO decision to deny a patent application is required to pay personnel expenses incurred by the USPTO under the relevant statute, 35 U.S.C. § 145 when its employees defend the agency in litigation.

City of Baltimore Sues Janssen for Delaying Generic Version of Zytiga – The City of Baltimore filed a lawsuit on Thursday in the Eastern District of Virginia against Janssen Biotech alleging that Janssen engaged in sham litigation to delay market entry of a generic version of the prostate cancer treatment Zytiga after a patent asserted by Janssen against generic drugmakers was invalidated by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently upheld the obviousness invalidation.

Federal Circuit Affirms PepsiCo Win in Trade Secret Case – In ScentSational Technologies v. PepsiCo, the Federal Circuit affirmed a ruling out of the Southern District of New York that granted summary judgment to PepsiCo regarding ScentSational Technologies’ claims that PepsiCo had misappropriated its trade secrets related to a bottle technology for enhancing aromas of contained beverages.

Barks 

Seventh Circuit Denies Attempt to Increase Damages in Music Instrument Trademark Case – On Wednesday, May 22, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a decision in Barrington Music Products v. Music & Arts Center and denied an attempt to increase damages in a trademark case by including sales of infringing “Ventus” brand instruments from Music & Arts and Woodwind to sales of infringing instruments made through Guitar Center stores. 

Copyright Office Issues Statement on Bitcoin Copyright Registrations – The U.S. Copyright Office issued a statement on Wednesday regarding copyright registrations filed by Craig Steven Wright, the American computer scientist who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin. The statement noted that the Copyright Office doesn’t investigate claims of authorship and that individuals making false claims in copyright registration applications could be subject to criminal penalties. 

USITC Announces Section 337 Investigation of Comcast After Third Rovi Complaint – On Thursday, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued a press release that reported it would institute a Section 337 investigation of digital video recorders and broadband gateways marketed by Comcast based on the third complaint for patent infringement filed by TiVo subsidiary Rovi Corporation. 

Apple Sued in Western Texas Over Data Sharing Patent – Ireland-based patent owner Data Scape Limited filed a lawsuit against consumer device giant Apple in the Western District of Texas alleging infringement claims over a patent covering a system of sharing data between devices. 

Energizer Brands Files Trademark Suit Against Chinese Battery Maker – Energizer Brands filed a suit in the Central District of California early this week alleging trademark infringement claims against Chinese battery maker Lumintop Technology over the use of a rabbit logo in its advertising. 

Music Copyright Issues Lead to Twitter Suspension for Iowa, Iowa State – On Saturday, May 18, The Des Moines Register reported that the official Twitter accounts for the college football programs at Iowa and Iowa State were both suspended due to copyright issues with music used in content that was posted in 2018. Similar uses of copyrighted music also led to recent Twitter suspensions for the Houston Rockets and the Auburn University football program. 

Jay-Z, Timbaland Hit With Copyright Suit Over Samples from Ernie Hines’ “Help Me” – Soul musician Ernie Hines has filed a copyright infringement suit in the Southern District of New York against rappers Jay-Z and Timbaland along with various music production companies over song releases from both artists which sample music from Hines’ 1969 release “Help Me.”

Pepe the Frog Copyright Case to Head to Trial – On May 16, U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald of the Central District of California ordered claims regarding cartoonist Matt Furie’s ownership of the Pepe the Frog character to go to trial in a case brought by Furie against InfoWars for its use of the character in a poster with several conservative political figures.

This Week on Wall Street 

Eli Lilly Releases Cheaper Generic Version of Humalog Insulin – On Wednesday, May 22, pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly announced that it had released a generic version of its Humalog insulin product, which costs half the price of the branded version, in response to the growing debate surrounding rising drug prices in the U.S.

Chinese Diplomat Warns of Reduced Investment in UK if Country Bans Huawei – On Thursday, May 23, the BBC reported that Chen Wen, the head of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, said that the UK would likely face reduced tech investment if it followed in the U.S.’ footsteps to ban Huawei equipment from the country’s 5G networks.

Quarterly Earnings – The following firms identified among the IPO’s Top 300 Patent Recipients for 2017 are announcing quarterly earnings next week (2017 rank in parentheses):

• Monday: Colgate-Palmolive Co. (t-275th)
• Tuesday: None
• Wednesday: None
• Thursday: Dell Technologies (18th); Marvell International Ltd. (149th)
• Friday: None

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