8/30. The U.S. Court of Appeals (10thCir) issued an Order and Judgment in SCO Group v. Novell, a case regarding copyright ownership of early versions of the UNIX operating system.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the U.S. District Court (DUtah) -- that Novell owned the copyrights, and that Novell retained rights in the licenses which included the right to prevent SCO from terminating a UNIX license issued before the transfer of UNIX to SCO.

Back in 1995, a predecessor of SCO acquired from Novell, under an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA), certain assets from Novell. The two also executed a Technology Licensing Agreement (TLA) granting Novell the right to use technology included in the transferred assets and derivatives. The meaning and consequences of this APA and TLA have been at issue in this action.

SCO Group (which was previously Caldera Systems, Inc.) began this long running litigation by filing a complaint against Novell in state court in 2004. SCO alleged slander of title. See, story titled "SCO Sues Novell for Slander of Title" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 820, January 21, 2004. Novell removed the action to the U.S. District Court (DUtah). SCO amended its complaint, and Novell counterclaimed.

Following cross motions for summary judgment, the District Court issued a Memorandum Decision and Order on August 10, 2007. See, story titled "District Court Rules Novell Owns UNIX Copyrights" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,621, August 13, 2007.

SCO appealed. See, August 24, 2009 opinion [55 pages in PDF] in SCO Group v. Novell, 578 F.3d 1201, affirming in part, reversing in part, and remanding for trial on remaining issues.

After remand, and trial in March of 2010, the District Court's judgment provided that Novell owned the copyrights, and that Novell retained rights in the licenses which included the right to prevent SCO from terminating a UNIX license issued before the transfer of UNIX to SCO.

SCO brought the present appeal. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

The Court of Appeals also wrote that "This order and judgment is an unpublished decision, not binding precedent."

Michael Jacobs of the law firm of Morrison & Foerster represented Novell in this action.

This case is The SCO Group, Inc. v. Novell, Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 10-4122, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, D.C. No. 2:04-CV-00139-TS. Judges O'Brien, Seymour and Holmes presided.

SCO also filed a separate complaint against IBM in 2003 alleging that IBM wrongfully included UNIX code in Linux products. That case is still pending. Novell publicly disputed SCO's claims in that dispute, which resulted SCO filing suit in the present action against Novell for slander of title.

For more on the history of these cases and disputes, see stories titled "SCO Group Delivers Notice to IBM of Termination of UNIX License Agreement" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 718, August 14, 2007; "SCO And Novell Continue Argument Over Rights in UNIX Operating System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 676, June 9, 2003; "Novell Asserts Intellectual Property Rights in UNIX Technology" and "German Software Group Threatens to Sue SCO Over Linux Claims", in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 670, May 30, 2003; and "Microsoft Licenses Technology at Issue in Caldera v. IBM", in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 669, May 29, 2003.

8/30. Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech at the Technologies for Critical Incident Preparedness Conference and Exposition in National Harbor, Maryland, in which he advocated creation of a public safety broadband network.

Holder (at right) said that "we've been able to work in partnership with the White House and the Departments of Homeland Security and Commerce to open a series of discussions concerning the public safety broadband network and the future of the D-Block."

He added that "we will continue to advocate for meaningful, affordable access to radio spectrum when and where you need it. And -- for as long as it takes -- we'll continue to bring policymakers together with leaders from law enforcement, the broader public safety community, and the telecommunications industry to make sure you have access to the resources you need."

8/29. A grand jury of the U.S. District Court (SDNY) returned an indictment that charges Yong Wang of Queens, New York, with one count of advertising in connection with the sexual exploitation of children, one count of distributing child pornography (CP), and one count of reproducing CP for distribution, in connection with his operation of Chinese language CP web sites.

The Office of the U.S. Attorney (OUSA) for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) stated in a release that "All of the websites were in Chinese and advertised to Chinese-speaking individuals in China, the United States, and elsewhere", and that the defendant and his servers were located in the US.

The OUSA stated that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated this case, with "extensive cooperation and assistance" from the People's Republic of China's (PRC) Ministry of Public Security.

Preet Bharara, the USA/SDNY, stated in the release that the defendant "allegedly exploited the global reach of the Internet to develop an international customer base", and that "we are committed to shutting down child pornography websites and working with our law enforcement partners across the globe to prosecute and punish those responsible".

8/30. President Obama congratulated Yoshihiko Noda on his election as Japan's next prime minister. Obama wrote in a statement that "The relationship between the United States and Japan is based on common interests and common values, and I look forward to working with Prime Minister Noda to tackle the broad range of economic and security issues that require our attention."

8/30. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in a release that it has designated of Davenport Public Library in the state of Iowa as a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC). The USPTO stated that "As the 81st library in the nationwide network, Davenport marks Iowa's return to the PTRC program and serves as the first center geared away from the ``paper depository´´ concept towards electronic access and training for patent and trademark information."

8/30. Intel Corporation announced in a release that it has formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Intel Federal LLC, and that Dave Patterson is its President.

8/29. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date (October 1, 2011) for, its rules changes raising the fees charged to entities accessing the National Do Not Call Registry. This notice states that "The revised rule increases the annual fee for access to the Registry for each area code of data from $55 to $56 per area code; increases the fee per area code of data during the second six months of an entity's annual subscription period from $27 to $28; and increases the maximum amount that will be charged to any single entity for accessing area codes of data from $15,058 to $15,503." See, FR, Vol. 76, No. 167, Monday, August 29, 2011, at Pages 53636-53638.

8/29. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) announcing the dates, times and locations of public meetings to consider drafts of material for its 2011 Annual Report to Congress. The topics to be considered in these meeting include "intellectual property protection and its 5-year plan, technology transfers, and outsourcing", and "China's foreign and regional activities and relationships, including those pertaining to Taiwan and Hong Kong". The meetings will be held on September 14-15, October 6-7, and October 17-18. The Commission is scheduled to release the report on November 16. See, FR, Vol. 76, No. 167, Monday, August 29, 2011, at Pages 53717-53718.

8/25. The Technology Policy Institute (TPI) hosted a conference in Aspen, Colorado, on August 21-23, 2011. The TPI has published video of the keynote addresses and panel discussions in its web site.

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Notices & Disclaimers
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The House will not meet.  It is in recess until 2:00 PM on September 7. However, it will hold pro forma sessions twice per week until then.

The Senate will not meet. It is in recess until 2:00 PM on September 6. However, it will hold pro forma sessions twice per week until then.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-67 Rev. 1 [35 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm (TDEA) Block Cipher".

EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 6. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice regarding certain universal service and intercarrier compensation reform issues. The FCC released this item on August 3, 2011. It is DA 11-1348 in WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 07-135, 05-337, and 03-109, CC Docket Nos. 01-92 and 96-45, and GN Docket No. 09-51. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 154, Wednesday, August 10, 2011, at Pages 49401-49408. See, August 29, 2011 order extending deadline.

10:00 AM - 2:30 PM. The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy will host an event titled "Legal Policy Shifts Since 9/11". At 10:00 - 11:30 AM there will be a panel titled "Surveillance". The speakers will be Kenneth Wainstein (O’Melveny & Myers, and former head of the DOJ's National Security Division), Jeffrey Rosen (George Washington University law school), Michael German (ACLU), Deepa Iyer (South Asian Americans Leading Together), Gregory Nojeim (Center for Democracy and Technology), and Suzanne Spaulding (Bingham Consulting Group). William Lietzau (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Rule of Law and Detainee Policy) will be the lunch speaker. At 1:00 - 2:30 PM there will be a second panel. The speakers will be Charlie Savage (New York Times), David Cole (Georgetown University Law Center), Richard Klingler (Sidley Austin), Wendy Patten (Open Society Foundations), Deborah Pearlstein (Princeton University), Geoffrey Stone (University of Chicago Law School). Location: National Press Club, 13th floor, 529 14th St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. Shannon Rossmiller, an independent online terrorism investigator, will give a speech. See, notice. Location: Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

Deadline to submit Form 477 to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The House will meet in pro forma session at 10:00 AM.

The Senate will meet in pro forma session at 10:00 AM.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [36 pages in PDF] regarding removing the International Settlements Policy (ISP) from all U.S. international routes except Cuba. The FCC adopted this NPRM on May 12, 2011, and released the text on May 13, 2011. This item is FCC 11-75 in IB Docket No. 11-80. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 138, Tuesday, July 19, 2011, at Pages 42625-42631.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [82 pages in PDF] regarding reporting requirements for providers of international telecommunications services. The FCC adopted this NPRM on May 12, 2011, and released the text on May 13, 2011. This item is FCC 11-76 in IB Docket No. 04-112. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 138, Tuesday, July 19, 2011, at Pages 42613-42625.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) seeking further comments in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its Lifeline and Link Up Universal Service programs. The FCC released this PN on August 5, 2011. It is DA 11-1346 in WC Docket Nos. 03-109 and 11-42, and CC Docket No. 96-45. The FCC adopted this NPRM on March 3, 2011, and released it on March 4. It is FCC 11-32. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 159, Wednesday, August 17, 2011, at Pages 50969-50971.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-53 Appendix J [24 pages in PDF] titled "Privacy Control Catalog".

Labor Day. This is a federal holiday. See, OPM list of 2011 federal holidays.

The House will meet in pro forma session at 10:00 AM.

The Senate will meet 2:00 PM. It is scheduled to begin consideration of cloture on the motion to proceed to HR 1249 [LOC | WW], the "American Invents Act", the House version of the patent reform bill, and to consider the nomination of Bouie Donald to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (6thCir). See, story titled "Senate to Take Up House Patent Bill in September" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,279, August 4, 2011.

2:00 - 2:15 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a Training Tuesday webcast event titled "Sync Outlook contacts with Google". See, notice. Free.

3:00 PM. The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) will meet to mark up the FY 2012 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill. Location: Room 138, Dirksen Building.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding information collection under its Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 131, Friday, July 8, 2011, at Pages 40339-40341.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding the USPTO portions of the DOC's document titled "Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules", which it prepared in response to President Obama's January 18, 2011, Executive Order 13563 titled "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 130, Thursday, July 7, 2011, at Pages 39796-39797. See also, the USPTO's web page titled "Look Back Plan: Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Regulations".

Deadline to submit initial comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of inquiry [19 pages in PDF] titled "Eighth Broadband Progress Notice and Inquiry". This is a Section 706 NOI concerning the availability of advanced telecommunications capability. The FCC adopted and released this NOI on August 5, 2011. It is FCC 11-124 in GN Docket No. 11-121. See also, story titled "FCC Releases NOI for 8th Section 706 Report" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,283, August 8, 2011.

EXTENDED FROM AUGUST 31. Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice regarding certain universal service and intercarrier compensation reform issues. The FCC released this item on August 3, 2011. It is DA 11-1348 in WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 07-135, 05-337, and 03-109, CC Docket Nos. 01-92 and 96-45, and GN Docket No. 09-51. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 154, Wednesday, August 10, 2011, at Pages 49401-49408. See also, August 29, 2011 order extending deadline.

The House will return from its August recess. It will meet at 2:00 PM.

RESCHEDULED FROM AUGUST 3. 10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Cybercrime: Updating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to Protect Cyberspace and Combat Emerging Threats". The witnesses will be James Baker (DOJ's Associate Deputy Attorney General) and Pablo Martinez (U.S. Secret Service). See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) will hold a hearing on several pending nominations, including Michael Punke (to be Deputy U.S. Trade Representative), Islam Siddiqui (to be Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the USTR), Paul Piquado (to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce in charge of the Import Administration), and David Johanson (to be a member of the U.S. International Trade Commission). See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Hochstein v. Microsoft, App. Ct. No. 2010-1551. Location: Courtroom 201.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a telecast panel discussion titled "Has Twombly Been Over-Turned?: The 7th Circuit's Text Messaging Case". See, December 29, 2010 opinion in In Re Text Messaging Antitrust Litigation, 630 F.3d 622. The speakers will be Rex Heinke (Akin Gump), Chris Sager (Cleveland Marshall law school), Anant Raut (Pepper Hamilton), Kenneth Glazer (K&L Gates), and John Delacourt (Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association). See, notice.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering and Technical Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch for planning purposes. For more information, contact Steve Sharkey at Steve dot Sharkey at T-Mobile dot com. Location: National Association of Broadcasters, 1771 N St., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "An Update on the Law of Patent Infringement in the U.S.". The speakers will be former Judge Paul Michel, Ted Cruz (Morgan Lewis), Steven Sereboff (SoCal IP Law Group), and Meredith Addy (Steptoe & Johnson). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a program titled "How to Litigate a Patent Infringement Case 2011". The speaker will be Patrick Coyne (Finnegan Henderson). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. Reporters are barred from attending most DC Bar events. CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.