8/20. The Supreme Court (SCUS) issued an order in Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific Atlanta allowing for the late filing of amicus curiae briefs by former Commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Stephen Breyer did not participate in this, or previous, decisions. See, Orders List [PDF].

Several former SEC Commissioners support the position of the plaintiffs. In contrast, the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) earlier submitted an amicus brief in which it urged the SCUS to reject the position of the plaintiffs, and affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

The plaintiff, Stoneridge Investment Partners, filed a class action complaint in U.S. District Court (EDMo) against Charter Communications, a cable company, alleging securities fraud in violation of Section 10b of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and SEC rule 10b-5 thereunder. Stoneridge had purchased Charter Communications stock. Stoneridge also named as defendants Scientific Atlanta and Motorola, equipment suppliers of Charter Communications.

The District Court granted a motion to dismiss filed by the equipment suppliers, and entered judgment. Stoneridge appealed.

The U.S. Court of Appeals (8thCir) issued its opinion [9 pages in PDF] on April 11, 2006 affirming this judgment of the District Court. This opinion is also reported at 443 F.3d 987. The SCUS granted certiorari on March 26, 2007. Oral argument before the SCUS is scheduled for October 9, 2007.

The SCUS states that the question presented [PDF] is "Whether this Court’s decision in Central Bank, N.A. v. First Interstate Bank, N.A., 511 U.S. 164 (1994), forecloses claims for deceptive conduct under § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5(a) and (c), 17 C.F.R. 240.l0b-5(a) and (c), where Respondents engaged in transactions with a public corporation with no legitimate business or economic purpose except to inflate artificially the public corporation's financial statements, but where Respondents themselves made no public statements concerning those transactions." See, SCUS opinion in Central Bank v. First Interstate Bank.

The OSG wrote in its amicus curiae brief that "Allowing liability for a primary violation under the circumstances presented here would constitute a sweeping expansion of the judicially inferred private right of action in Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5, potentially exposing customers, vendors, and other actors far removed from the market to billions of dollars in liability when issuers of securities make misstatements to the market."

The SCUS has received numerous other amicus briefs. See, SCUS docket.

This case is Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC, v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., et al., a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 05-1974. The Court of Appeals heard an appeal from the U.S. District Court (EDMo).

8/20. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a notice in the Federal Register regarding applications for grants under its Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) Grant Program.

The August 20 notice states that "Each State and Territory continues to be required to submit its application and narrative no later than 11:59 p.m. on August 22, 2007. Each State and Territory, however, will now be required to submit its Statewide Communications Interoperability Plans and Investment Justification under the PSIC Grant Program no later than December 3, 2007." See, Federal Register, August 20, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 160, at Pages 46442-46444.

On July 18, Carlos Gutierrez, the Secretary of Commerce, John Kneuer, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, held a news conference to announce the $968 Million in Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) grants to be awarded by September 30, 2007. They stated that applications by states, territories and the District of Columbia are due in 30 days. See, story titled "Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Applications Due in 30 Days" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,612, July 19, 2007.

On July 23, the NTIA published a notice in the Federal Register that stated that PSIC grant applications are due within 30 days of July 23, at 11:59 PM. See, Federal Register, July 23, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 140, at Pages 40120-40123.

8/21. The U.S. District Court (DC) released a redacted copy of its Memorandum Opinion [95 page PDF scan; 3.5 MB] denying the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) request for a preliminary injunction of the proposed acquisition by Whole Foods of Wild Oats. The FTC is appealing. This case is FTC v. Whole Foods Markets, Inc. and Wild Oats Markets, Inc., U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, D.C. No. 07-1021 (PLF), Judge Paul Friedman presiding.

8/21. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date (November 1, 2007) for changes to its rules of practice in patent cases relating to continuing applications and requests for continued examination practices, and for the examination of claims in patent applications. See, Federal Register, August 21, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 161, at Pages 46715-46843.

8/21. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces that its is adopting "revisions to the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval System (EDGAR) Filer Manual to reflect updates to the EDGAR system". The purpose is to support expansion of the SEC's interactive data voluntary reporting program "to enable mutual funds voluntarily to submit supplemental tagged information contained in the risk/return summary section of their prospectuses on Form N-1A."

8/20. The Library of Congress's (LOC) Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces the partial Phase I settlement in connection with the 2003 cable royalty fund. The notice also requests that comments be submitted to the Copyright Royalty Judges regarding a motion for further distribution in connection with that fund by September 19, 2007. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 20, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 160, at Pages 46516-46520.

8/10. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) release a report titled "WIPO Patent Report: Statistics on Worldwide Patent Activity (2007 Edition)". It states that "Worldwide filings of patent applications have grown at an average annual rate of 4.7% since 1995 to a total of more than 1.6 million in 2005." It states that use of the patent system remains highly concentrated in five patent offices -- the patent office of Japan, USPTO, patent office of the People's Republic of China, patent office of the Republic of Korea, and the European Patent Office. It states that the number of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international applications "increased by 7.9% from 2005 to 2006 to reach 147,500". It also states that patent applications "filed in the field of electricity and electronics represented 35% of worldwide patent filings between 2000 and 2005". See also, WIPO release.

The House will not meet due to the August District Work Period. See, House 2007 calendar. The House will next meet at 2:00 PM on September 4, 2007.

The Senate will not meet due to the August District Work Period. The Senate will next meet at 1:00 PM on September 4. See, Senate 2007 calendar.

Deadline to submit applications for Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) grants. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 23, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 140, Pages 40120-40123, and story titled "Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Applications Due in 30 Days" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,612, July 19, 2007. See also, notice in the Federal Register, August 20, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 160, at Pages 46442-46444, which states that "Each State and Territory continues to be required to submit its application and narrative no later than 11:59 p.m. on August 22, 2007. Each State and Territory, however, will now be required to submit its Statewide Communications Interoperability Plans and Investment Justification under the PSIC Grant Program no later than December 3, 2007."

Deadline to register for the August 28, 2007, meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBCB) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) meeting by teleconference regarding "revising and updating accessibility guidelines for telecommunications products and accessibility standards for electronic and information technology". See, notice in the Federal Register, August 3, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 149, at Pages 43211-43212.

TIME CHANGE. 1:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) International Trade Administration's (ITA) President's Export Council will meet by teleconference. See, original notice in the Federal Register, August 13, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 155, at Pages 45224, and revised notice in the Federal Register, August 21, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 161, at Page 46607.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding rule changes related to the DTV transition. The FCC adopted this NPRM on April 25, 2007, and released the text [93 pages in PDF] on May 18, 2007. It is FCC 07-70 in MB Docket No. 07-91. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 9, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 130, at Pages 37309-37344.

Deadline to submit comments to the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) following its partially closed meeting of August 16, 2007, regarding the NSTAC's International Task Force (ITF) Report and network security and the global communications environment. See, notice in the Federal Register: July 31, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 146, at Page 41771.

Deadline to submit nominations for appointments to its Federal Reserve Board's (FRB) Consumer Advisory Council. See, notice.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding proposed rules to ensure bidirectional compatibility of cable television systems and consumer electronics equipment. The NPRM also seeks comment on whether these rules should apply to non-cable Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs) and whether there are technological solutions that are network agnostic and deployable across all MVPD platforms, including DBS, IP, and QAM/IP. The FCC adopted this item on June 27, 2007, and released the text on June 29, 2007. It is FCC 07-120 in CS Docket No. 97-80 and PP Docket No. 00-67. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 25, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 142, at Pages 40818-40824.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the Wireline Competition Bureau's (WCB) notice requesting comments to refresh the record on the issues raised by the FCC's 2004 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its universal service subsidy programs titled "Lifeline" and "Linkup". The WCB issued its notice on March 12, 2007. It is DA 07-1241. The FCC issued its NPRM on June 22, 2004, in WC Docket No. 03-109. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 25, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 142, at Pages 40816-40818.

10:00 AM. Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) regarding its Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of the Russian Federation. This is a review of countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 9, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 130, at Pages 37272-37273.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in its XM Sirius merger review proceeding that seeks comment on whether the language in an earlier order barring the merger constitutes a binding FCC rule, and if so, whether the FCC should waive, modify, or repeal the prohibition if the FCC determines that the proposed merger would serve the public interest. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 12, 2007, Vol. 72, Number 133, at Pages 38055-38056.

1:00 - 3:00 PM. The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBCB) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) will hold the second of two meetings by teleconference regarding "revising and updating accessibility guidelines for telecommunications products and accessibility standards for electronic and information technology". The deadline to register is August 22, 2007. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 3, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 149, at Pages 43211-43212. Location: Suite 1000, 1331 F St.,  NW.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) titled "Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems (PerMIS) Workshop". See, notice. August 21 is the deadline to register. The price to attend is $375. Location: Courtyard Gaithersburg Washingtonian Center, 204 Boardwalk Place, Gaithersburg, MD.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a continuing legal education (CLE) program titled "What You Need to Know About Spam Cases: Litigation and Anti-Spam Regulations". The speakers will be Jason Levine (McDermott Will & Emery) and Yaron Dori (Hogan & Hartson). The price to attend ranges from $80 to $115. For more information, call 202-626-3488. See, notice. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its request to refresh the record of its 2001 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding "the status of the market for the provision of telecommunications services in Multiple Tenant Environments (MTEs), and on whether the prohibition on exclusive access contracts in commercial MTEs should be extended to residential MTEs". See, notice in the Federal Register, May 30, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 103, at Pages 29928-29929. This item is DA 07-1485 WT Docket No. 99-217 and CC Docket No. 96-98.

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