1/5. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published three notices in the Federal Register that propose changes to its rules of practice to implement various provisions of HR 1249 [LOC | WW], the "Leahy-Smith America Invents Act", which was signed into law in September of 2011.

These proceedings pertain to post patent reviews, pre patent issuance submissions by third parties, and USPTO disciplinary proceedings.

President Obama signed this Act into law on September 16, 2011. It is Public Law No. 112-29. The deadline to submit all comments in all three proceedings is March 5, 2012.

First, the USPTO published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the deadline to submit comments on, proposed changes to its rules of practice to implement the provisions of Section 6 the "Leahy-Smith America Invents Act", regarding post patent review provisions. See, Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 3, Thursday, January 5, 2012, at Pages 442-448.

Second, the USPTO published a notice that announces, describes, recites, and sets the deadline to submit comments on, proposed changes to its rules of practice to implement the provisions of Section 8 of the "Leahy-Smith America Invents Act", which amends 35 U.S.C. § 122 regarding pre patent issuance submissions by third parties.

This amendment provides a mechanism for third parties to submit to the USPTO, for consideration and inclusion in the record of a patent application, any patents, published patent applications, or other printed publications of potential relevance to the examination of the application. President Obama signed this Act into law on September 16, 2011. It is Public Law No. 112-29. See, Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 3, Thursday, January 5, 2012, at Pages 448-457.

Third, the USPTO published a notice that announces, describes, recites, and sets the deadline to submit comments on, proposed changes to its rules of practice to implement the provisions of Section 32 of the "Leahy-Smith America Invents Act", regarding USPTO disciplinary proceedings against any person, agent, or attorney who fails to comply with USPTO regulations. See, Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 3, Thursday, January 5, 2012, at Pages 457-461.

1/3. The Copyright Office's (CO) Copyright Royalty Judges published a notice in the Federal Register that announces a proceeding to determine the reasonable rates and terms for the making of an ephemeral recording of a sound recording for a later transmission by entities that transmit performances of a sound recording to business establishments. See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 804, 112(e)(1) and 114(d)(1)(C)(iv). The deadline to submit petitions to participate in, and pay the $150 filing fees for, this proceeding is February 2, 2012. See, Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 1, Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at Page 133.

12/30. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register regarding electronic delivery of search results from U.S. patent applications to the European Patent Office (EPO). This notice states the the USPTO has begun such delivery "to assist U.S. applicants who later file in the EPO to comply with amended Rule 141(1) of the EPO's implementing regulations to the European Patent Convention (EPC). As a result, U.S. applicants subject to amended Rule 141(1) EPC will not need to separately file their U.S. search results with the EPO, thereby providing time and cost savings to these applicants." See, Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 251, Friday, December 30, 2011, at Page 82279.

12/29. The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a criminal information in the U.S. District Court (EDVa) against Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Magyar Telekom (MT) alleging violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with payments intended for government officials in Macedonia in return for delaying entry of a third wireless competitor, which affected MT's Macedonian subsidiary, Makedonski Telekommunikacii AD Skopje.

DT is a German company that owns 60% of MT, a Hungarian company. The activities described in the information occurred in the Balkans. However, stock of both DT and MT is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and DT and MT file Forms 20-F with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The DOJ also announced in a release that it settled this matter in return for payments totaling $63.9 Million, with MT paying $59.6 Million and DT paying $4.36 Million.

The SEC simultaneously filed a related civil complaint in the U.S. District Court (SDNY) against the DT and MT alleging violation of the FCPA, and a second complaint against three executives of MT.

The SEC simultaneously announced in a release that "Deutsche Telekom settled the SEC's charges" and that "Magyar Telekom agreed to settle the SEC's charges by paying more than $31.2 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest".

The two SEC actions are D.C. Nos.11-CIV-9646 and 11-CIV-9645, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

12/23. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [125 pages in PDF] titled "Commercial Spectrum: Plans and Actions to Meet Future Needs, Including Continued Use of Auctions".

It states that "Given the continued success of FCC’s use of auctions, and the overwhelming support among experts and stakeholders for extending FCC's auction authority, Congress should consider extending FCC’s auction authority beyond the current expiration date of September 30, 2012."

However, it also finds that these experts and stakeholders express different and conflicting opinions regarding potential changes to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) auction policies.

1/9. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) announced in a release that "Ron Kirk was previously scheduled to lead a delegation to India this week for the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF). However, while considerable progress on developing the agenda for the TPF has been made, in view of the amount of preparatory work that remains to be done, the United States and India have decided to postpone the TPF until later this year."

1/6. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) announced in a release that it "will hold working-level meetings with Korea on January 9-10 in Seoul to continue discussions related to implementation of the U.S.-Korea trade agreement".

1/4. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which regulates exports, announced in a release that FedEx has paid $370,000 to settle BIS allegations that it violated export control rules in connection with its providing freight forwarding services that aided and abetted unlicensed exports of flight simulation software to the People's Republic of China (PRC), electronic components to the United Arab Emirates, and printer components to Syria. All of the allegations were at least five years old.

1/3. President Obama signed into law HR 1892 [LOC | WW], the "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012". It is now Public Law No. 112-87. See, White House news office release.

12/31. President Obama signed into law HR 1540 [LOC | WW], the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012". It is now Public Law No. 112-81. See, President Obama's signing statement. Section 136 provides for the procurement of two "extremely high frequency satellites". Section 141 addresses the "joint tactical radio system". Section 218 addresses the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) "wireless innovation fund". Section 245 provides for an "independent review and assessment of the cryptographic modernization program". Section 256 provides the "Sense of Congress on active matrix organic light emitting diode technology". Section 3124 requires "a net assessment of the high-performance computing capability possessed by foreign countries". Sections 5101-5168 address the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

12/23. President Obama signed into law HR 3765 [LOC | WW], the "Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011". It is now Public Law No. 112-78. See, White House news office release

12/23. President Obama signed into law HR 2055 [LOC | WW], the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012". It is now Public Law No. 112-74. See, White House news office release.

1/5. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski announced changes to his staff. See, FCC release.

Zachary Katz, who is currently "Chief Counsel and Senior Legal Advisor", will become "Chief of Staff", replacing Edward Lazarus when he leaves the FCC at the end of January.

Sherrese Smith, who is currently "Senior Counsel and Legal Advisor", will become "Chief Counsel and Senior Legal Advisor". The FCC release states that she will manage the FCC's "overall policy agenda, and will be responsible for policy coordination among the Bureaus and Offices".

Amy Levine, who is currently "Special Counsel and Legal Advisor", will become "Senior Counsel and Legal Advisor". She will continue to responsibility for the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB), and Office of Engineering and Technology (OET). She is an attorney who has worked for former Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO). The FCC release states that she works on spectrum auction policy, provides technical advice to Congress, manages wireless transaction reviews, works on creation of a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network, and works on E911 and NG911 issues.

Michael Steffen, who currently works in the Office of General Counsel (OGC), will become "Legal Advisor to the Chairman" with responsibility for wireline, international, and internet issues, including universal service, open internet, and satellite matters.

Josh Gottheimer, a PR person, will retain his title of "Senior Counselor". The FCC release states that going forward he will "focus on directing a new team at the Commission on public-private initiatives".

1/5. Steven Olson was named Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser to Secretary of Commerce John Bryson. See, Department of Commerce (DOC) release. Olson is a former partner in the Los Angeles office of the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers.

12/28. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, for violation of the Hart Scott Rodino Act for not reporting a purchase of Comcast stock. See, December 28, 2011 Order and Final Judgment. The FTC wrote in its December 23 Memorandum that Roberts' purchase did not involve a merger, that he did not benefit from the transaction, and that his "failure to file did not reveal any evidence of harm to competition and consumers, nor an intention to violate the Act". Nevertheless, it fined him $500,000.

12/27. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) announced in a statement that he will not seek re-election in November of 2012. See also, video of statement.

12/27. President Obama announced his intent to nominate Jerome Powell and Jeremy Stein to be members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See, White House news office release. Powell works at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Before that he was Undersecretary of the Treasury for Finance in the Bush administration. And before that he worked for The Carlyle Group. Stein is a professor in the Department of Economics at Harvard University.

12/19. Henning Schulzrinne was named "Chief Technology Officer" at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC stated in a release that he "will guide the FCC's work on technology and engineering issues, together with the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology". He was worked at the FCC since 2010. Before that he was a professor at Columbia University.

12/16. James Kennedy was designated Director of the U.S. International Trade Commission's (USITC) Office Analysis and Research Services. See, USITC release.

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in TecSec v. IBM, App. Ct. No. 2011-1303, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (EDVa) in a patent infringement case involving encryption and security technology. This is the fourth case on the calendar. Location: Courtroom 201.

11:00 AM. The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Kappos v. Hyatt, Sup. Ct. No. 10-1219. This is a review of the November 8, 2010 en banc opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir), reported at 625 F.3d 1320. At issue is whether the plaintiff in an action in the U.S. District Court under 35 U.S.C. § 145 may introduce new evidence that could have been presented to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in the first instance, and whether, when new evidence is introduced under § 145, the District Court may decide de novo the factual questions to which the evidence pertains, without giving deference to the prior decision of the USPTO.

Deadline to submit to the Copyright Office (CO) responses to objections to the newly designated television stations entitled to specialty station status under the cable statutory license, and responses to the objections filed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 216 Tuesday, November 8, 2011, at Pages 69289-69290.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Data Network Storage Corp. v. Dell, Inc. and Network Appliance, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2011-1141, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDTex) in a patent infringement case involving storage network technology. This is the second case on this calendar. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Toshiba v. Imation, App. Ct. No. 2011-1204, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (WDWisc) in a patent infringement case involving DVD technology. This is the first case on this calendar. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Red Bend Software v. Google, App. Ct. No. 2011-1375, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DMass) in a patent infringement case involving the Chrome operating system. This is the second case on this calendar. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Heritage Foundation will host an event titled "2012: Facing Political Changes in the U.S. and China". There will be two panel discussions, titled "U.S. Role in the 2012 Chinese Political Transition" and "PRC's Role in the 2012 American Presidential Election". See, notice. Location: Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

11:00 AM. The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Sup. Ct. No. 10-1293. This is a review of the July 13, 2010 opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals (2ndCir), which is reported at 613 F.3d 317. This is the long running litigation regarding the broadcast of unscripted fleeting expletives and whether the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) indecency enforcement regime violates the 1st or 5th Amendments. See, story titled "2nd Circuit Holds FCC Indecency Policy Violates First Amendment" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,103, July 13, 2010.

The Senate will meet at 11:00 AM in pro forma session only.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Power Integrations v. Fairchild Semiconductor, App. Ct. No. 2011-1218, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DDel) in a patent infringement case. This is the second case on the calendar. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a brown bag lunch titled "Legal Issues in Mass Digitization". The speakers will be Allan Adler (Association of American Publishers), Brandon Butler (Association of Research Libraries), Catherine Rowland (Copyright Office), Corey Williams (American Library Association), Michele Woods (Copyright Office). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3463. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding changes to its program carriage rules. See, original notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 189, Thursday, September 29, 2011, at Pages 60675-60700, and extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 3, Thursday, January 5, 2012, at Pages 468-469. The FCC adopted this NPRM [120 pages in PDF] on July 29, 2011, and released it on August 1, 2011. It is FCC 11-119 in MB Docket No. 11-131. See also, story titled "FCC Program Carriage Order Includes Standstill Provision" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,276, August 1, 2011.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Lens.com v. 1-800 CONTACTS, App. Ct. No. 2011-1258, an appeal from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This is the third case on this calendar. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in MagSil v. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, App. Ct. No. 2011-1221, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DDel) in a patent infringement case involving hard disc drive technology. This is the second case on the calendar. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Noah Systems v. Intuit, App. Ct. No. 2011-1390, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (WDPenn) in a patent infringement case involving business method patents. This is the fourth case on this calendar. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Advanced Fiber Technologies Trust v. J&L Fiber Services, App. Ct. No. 2011-1243, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDNY) in a patent infringement case. This is the first case on the calendar. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

The Senate will meet at 12:00 NOON in pro forma session only .

Supreme Court conference day. See, calendar. Closed.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Intermec Technologies v. Palm, App. Ct. No. 2011-1296, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DDel) in a patent infringement case. This is the third case on the calendar. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

Martin Luther King's Birthday. This is a federal holiday. See, OPM list of 2012 federal holidays.

1/9. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [77 pages in PDF] titled "Cybersecurity Guidance Is Available, but More Can Be Done to Promote Its Use".

1/5. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) extended the deadline (from December 28, 2011 to January 11, 2012) to submit reply comments in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding changes to its program carriage rules. See, original notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 189, Thursday, September 29, 2011, at Pages 60675-60700, and extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 3, Thursday, January 5, 2012, at Pages 468-469. The FCC adopted this NPRM [120 pages in PDF] on July 29, 2011, and released it on August 1, 2011. It is FCC 11-119 in MB Docket No. 11-131. See also, story titled "FCC Program Carriage Order Includes Standstill Provision" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,276, August 1, 2011.

12/23. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a report titled "Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP): Quarterly Program Status Report".

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