Movie studio plaintiffs landed a permanent injunction giving them control of the PrimeWire video piracy sites, per an order Wednesday (docket 2:21-cv-09317) by U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi in Los Angeles, as he granted them default judgment. He said the defendants haven't defended the copyright violation litigation, despite making changes to PrimeWire in response to court orders (see 2203230040).
The Copyright Office launched the website Thursday for the first U.S. copyright small-claims tribunal. CCB.gov will be the online hub for the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) under the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (see 2203250046). The CCB will begin hearing claims this spring.
Continental Automotive representatives warned that limiting part of the 5.9 GHz band exclusively for cellular vehicle-to-everything use could have negative implications because of intellectual property concerns. Continental supports C-V2X technologies and “has every intention of designing and manufacturing automotive parts and components that use C-V2X and the 5.9 GHz band,” the company told an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Shifting to a sole technology standard “complicates parts suppliers’ ability to license patented technologies included within the standards,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-138: “The cellular standard essential patents underlying C-V2X technologies incorporate thousands of patented technologies owned by companies throughout the supply chain, most of whom are not based in the United States. As a factual matter, many of the companies that own such patents refuse to license them to companies such as Continental, or insist only on unfair, unreasonable and discriminatory terms.” If not accompanied by a licensing requirement, Continental and its peers must “use a technology for which they may not be able to obtain the intellectual property licenses needed to remain fully in compliance with the U.S. Patent Laws.”
The Computer & Communications Industry Association looks forward to working with recently confirmed U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal to improve patent examination, the association said Wednesday. Computer & Communications Industry Association patent counsel Joshua Landau highlighted the need for high quality patent examination and to “strengthen the IPR system for second-look review of patents that never should have been issued." The Senate confirmed Vidal by voice vote Tuesday.
The Patent and Trademark Office will stop granting requests for participation in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway information-sharing program when the requests are based on work performed by Rospatent, Russia’s agency in charge of intellectual property, said a notice in Monday’s Federal Register. The ban is retroactive to March 11, it said. Pending patent applications linked to Rospatent that received “special status” from PTO under the GPPH before March 11 will lose that status and be returned “to the regular processing and examination queue,” it said. PTO has “terminated engagement” with Rospatent, the Eurasian Patent Organization and patent authorities in Belarus, said the notice. PTO announced last month it would take these steps over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Japan Patent Office, secretariat of the GPPH, was advised of PTO’s decision, it said.
Bungie suffered "nearly incalculable damage" from fake Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices given to YouTube that disrupted the video game developer's players, streamers and fans, it told the U.S. District Court in Seattle Friday in a docket 2:22-cv-00371 complaint seeking unspecified damages and injunctive relief. It said the takedown notices, purportedly issued on behalf of Bungie, targeted videos people had uploaded to YouTube, with Bungie's permission, of them playing Bungie games. The suit is filed against unnamed John Does. Bungie said it would learn their identities through a subpoena and amend the complaint.
The Copyright Office announced a final rule Friday “establishing procedures for the initial stages of a Copyright Claims Board (CCB) proceeding" under the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (see 2012290048). The rule addresses claims filings, CCB review, service of notice, CCB notifications on pending proceedings, opt-out provisions and counterclaim filings.
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in Oakland scheduled a June 28 case management virtual conference on the complaint by Finnish inventor Lauri Valjakka alleging the Netflix Open Connect program infringes his July 2013 U.S. patent (8,495,167) on data communications networks (see 2203180053). Tigar is the third judge assigned the case (in docket 4:22-cv-1490) since it was transferred March 9 to Northern California from Waco, Texas. U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia DeMarchi in San Jose immediately recused herself, and a second magistrate judge, Sallie Kim in San Francisco, was removed from the case after Netflix declined Wednesday to have it tried before anyone but a U.S. district judge.
Anonymous emails claiming to be from those behind accused video piracy site PrimeWire should be ignored, studios told the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in a docket 2:21-cv-09317 notice Wednesday. The studios said they were emailed by individuals identifying themselves as the "PrimeWire team" after PrimeWire removed supposedly pirated content (see 2203140047) and were told the links to the content were deleted to comply with the temporary injunction. The studios said the email requested the pending permanent injunction not include the www.primewire.tf domain, which is supposedly free of pirated content. "Out-of-court assertions, made in anonymous emails, merit little weight," the studios said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim in San Francisco scheduled a June 6 case management Zoom conference Friday on a complaint by Finnish inventor Lauri Valjakka that the Netflix Open Connect program infringes his July 2013 U.S. patent (8,495,167) on data communications networks. Kim was reassigned the case after U.S. Magistrate Judge in San Jose Virginia DeMarchi recused herself a day after it was transferred from U.S. District Court in Waco, Texas, where it was filed Sept. 13. Netflix lawyers haven’t responded to the merits of Valjakka’s arguments, but asked the Waco court in an improper-venue motion in December to move the case to Northern California. It was transferred there March 9 after Valjakka's lawyers didn't oppose the motion. Netflix describes its Open Connect program as providing opportunities for internet service provider partners to improve their customers' Netflix user experiences “by localizing Netflix traffic and minimizing the delivery of traffic that is served over a transit provider.”