8/14. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that requests comments to assist it in preparing its 2012 Notorious Markets List. This report will identify internet and physical notorious markets located outside of the US that make available intellectual property infringing products.

The deadline to submit comments is September 14, 2012. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 157, August 14, 2012, at Pages 48583-48584.

This notice states that "Potentially helpful information could include: Location; principal owners/operators (if known); types of products sold, distributed, or otherwise made available; information on the volume of Internet traffic associated with a Web site (such as a recent Alexa ranking); any known civil or criminal enforcement activity against the market; other efforts to remove/limit infringing materials (e.g., a Web site's responsiveness to requests to remove or disable access to allegedly infringing material); and any other relevant information, including with respect to positive progress made by operators of the market in addressing infringing activity." (Parentheses in original.)

Last year the OUSTR released its notorious markets report on December 20, 2011. See, report [6 pages in PDF] titled "Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets", and story titled "OUSTR Releases Notorious Markets Report" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,321, December 21, 2011.

The December 2001 report identified numerous web sites and online services. It listed a class of Russian web sites identified as "Allofmp3 clones". It listed "deep linking" web sites, for which the infringing works reside on third party servers, such as Sogou MP3 and Gougou in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It listed the business to business and business to consumer web sites Taobao in the PRC and Modchip.ca and Consolesource in Canada. It listed several BitTorrent indexing web sites that are used for locating and downloading of infringing works, including ThePirateBay (Sweden), IsoHunt (Canada), Btjunkie (Sweden and Netherlands), Kat.ph (Canada, Ukraine and Romania), and torrentz.eu (Canada, Panama and Switzerland). It listed BitTorrent tracking web sites, including Rutracker (Russia), Demonoid (Ukraine), and zamunda (Bulgaria). It also listed the social media web site vKontakte (Russia), the cyber lockers Megaupload (Netherlands and Hong Kong) and Putlocker (United Kingdom), the forum web site Warez-bb (Luxembourg, Switzerland and Sweden), and the sports programming retransmission peer to peer service TV Ants (PRC).

The OUSTR notorious markets report is part of the Special 301 process. Section 301 is the statutory means by which the U.S. asserts its international trade rights, including its rights under World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. In particular, under the "Special 301" provisions of the Trade Act of 1974, the OUSTR identifies trading partners that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. artists and industries that rely upon intellectual property protection. See, 19 U.S.C. § 2242.

Section 2242 contains no reference to the identification of notorious web sites, or notorious markets. Rather, it requires the OUSTR to identify "foreign countries". The OUSTR must identify, for example, countries that "deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights, or ... deny fair and equitable market access to United States persons that rely upon intellectual property protection".

Beginning in 2006, the OUSTR included sections on notorious markets in its annual Special 301 reports. In 2010, the OUSTR announced that it would also produce stand alone notorious markets reports. See, story titled "OUSTR Announces Separate Notorious Markets Process" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,138, October 4, 2010. The OUSTR released its first notorious markets report in February of 2011.

8/20. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) regarding preparation of its annual report to the Congress on the People's Republic of China's (PRC) compliance with its World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. The OUSTR will receive both written comments, and oral testimony, before releasing the report in December.

The OUSTR seeks comments on, among other things, "intellectual property rights (including intellectual property rights enforcement)". See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 161, August 20, 2012, at Pages 50206-50207.

The OUSTR notice sets this timetable:

• The deadline to submit requests to testify is 12:00 NOON on September 19.
• Public comments are due by 12:00 NOON on September 24.
• The OUSTR will hold a hearing on October 3, at the OUSTR, Room 1, 1724 F St.,  NW.
• The deadline for the OUSTR to submit its report to Congress is December 11, 2012.

See also, the OUSTR's last three such reports:

• report [127 pages in PDF] titled "2011 Report to Congress On China's WTO Compliance".
• report [124 pages in PDF] titled "2010 Report to Congress On China's WTO Compliance".
• report [121 pages in PDF] titled "2009 Report to Congress On China's WTO Compliance".

8/15. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that its Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC) will meet at the DOC on October 4 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

The agenda includes reports from the Sharing, Unlicensed, and Spectrum Management Improvements Subcommittees on identifying radio spectrum for wireless broadband.

There will also be reports from five working groups:

• WG1 1695-1710 MHz Weather Satellite Receive Earth Stations.
• WG2 1755-1850 MHz Law Enforcement Surveillance and other short-range fixed.
• WG3 1755-1850 MHz Satellite Control Links and Electronic Warfare.
• WG4 1755-1850 MHz Fixed Point-to-Point and Tactical Radio Relay.
• WG5 1755-1850 MHz Airborne Operations.

The deadline to submit written comments in association with this meeting is September 28, 2012.

This meeting will be held at the DOC main building, Room 4830, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW.

See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 158, August 15, 2012, at Pages 48968-48969.

8/17. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted and released its First Report and Order [16 pages in PDF] forbearing from applying the 20% foreign ownership limit on certain common carrier licensees.

This R&O states that the FCC forbears "from applying the 20 percent foreign ownership limit set forth in section 310(b)(3) of the Act to the class of common carrier licensees in which foreign ownership in the licensee is held through U.S.-organized entities that do not control the licensee". (Footnotes omitted.)

This R&O adds that this forbearance "applies only to such foreign ownership in common carrier licensees and not to broadcast or other licensees covered by section 310(b)(3), because our forbearance authority does not extend to such other licensees. Nor does our approach apply to foreign ownership held in the licensee other than indirectly through an intervening U.S.-organized entity that does not control the licensee."

Footnote 26 states that "For purposes of this First Report and Order, we will assume that section 310(b)(3) of the Act applies where a foreign government, individual, or entity holds interests in a licensee through an intervening U.S.-organized entity that itself does not control the licensee, and we do not address commenters' contrary argument that section 310(b)(4) applies to all ``indirect´´ foreign interests in a common carrier licensee. We note that to the extent commenters in this proceeding argue that indirect foreign interests are governed by section 310(b)(4) of the Act, the regulatory treatment of common carrier licensees as a result of this First Report and Order will be the same: the application of the Commission’s section 310(b)(4) policies and procedures to indirect foreign interests, whether held through an intervening U.S.-organized entity that controls or does not control such common carrier licensees."

47 U.S.C. § 310 restricts foreign ownership of FCC licenses.

Subsection 310(b) provides that "No broadcast or common carrier or aeronautical en route or aeronautical fixed radio station license shall be granted to or held by ... (3) any corporation of which more than one-fifth of the capital stock is owned of record or voted by aliens or their representatives or by a foreign government or representative thereof or by any corporation organized under the laws of a foreign country; (4) any corporation directly or indirectly controlled by any other corporation of which more than one-fourth of the capital stock is owned of record or voted by aliens, their representatives, or by a foreign government or representative thereof, or by any corporation organized under the laws of a foreign country, if the Commission finds that the public interest will be served by the refusal or revocation of such license."

47 U.S.C. § 160 provides that the FCC shall forbear from applying its rules and certain provision of the Communications Act under certain circumstances.

Subsection 160(a)  provides in part that the FCC "shall forbear from applying any regulation or any provision of this chapter to a telecommunications carrier or telecommunications service, or class of telecommunications carriers or telecommunications services, in any or some of its or their geographic markets, if the Commission determines that -- (1) enforcement of such regulation or provision is not necessary to ensure that the charges, practices, classifications, or regulations by, for, or in connection with that telecommunications carrier or telecommunications service are just and reasonable and are not unjustly or unreasonably discriminatory; (2) enforcement of such regulation or provision is not necessary for the protection of consumers; and (3) forbearance from applying such provision or regulation is consistent with the public interest."

This item is FCC 12-93 in IB Docket No. 11-133.

8/13. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces the members of the NIST Performance Review Board (PRB): Delwin Brockett, Robert Dimeo, Stella Fiotes, Ellen Herbst, Anna Gomez, and Sivaraj Sunder. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 156, August 13, 2012, at Pages 48129-48130.

8/13. Yahoo named Ron Bell General Counsel. He has worked for Yahoo since 1999. See, release.

2:00 PM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Apple v. Samsung Electronics, App. Ct. No. 2012-1507, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDCal) in the patent infringement case involving smart phones and tablet computers. At issue in this oral argument is whether the District Court should have enjoined sale of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smart phone. Panel I. Location: Courtroom 201.

Deadline to submit to the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) Petitions to Participate in, and filing fees for, the CRB's proceeding to determine the distribution of the digital audio recording technology royalty fees in the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Musical Works Funds. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 140, July 20, 2012, at Pages 42764-42765.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in response to its Request for Information (RFI) regarding current strategies and challenges regarding quality measurement enabled by health information technology (IT). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 140, July 20, 2012, Pages 42738-42740.

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

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM. The Center for American Progress (CAP) will host a panel discussion titled "Comparing U.S., Chinese, and Indian Investments in the Next-Generation Workforce". The speakers will be Eric Hanushek (Stanford University), Governor Jack Markell (D-DE), Bob Carpenter (Chesapeake Beach Consulting), Marilyn Reznick (AT&T), and Ann O'Leary (CAP). See, notice. Location: CAP, 10th Floor, 1333 H St., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and telecast panel discussion titled "Mayo v. Prometheus: The Supreme Court's New Methodology for Analyzing Patent Eligibility". The speakers will be Robert Armitage (Eli Lilly), Thomas Krauss (USPTO), and Denise DeFranco (Finnegan Henderson). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

9:30 AM - 1:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will hold one in a series of meetings regarding consumer data privacy in the context of mobile applications. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 149, Thursday, August 2, 2012, Pages 46067-46068. Location: Auditorium, DOC, Hoover Building, 14th Street and Constitution Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON. The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Tracking Protection Working Group will meet by teleconference. The call in number is 1-617-761-6200. The passcode is TRACK (87225).

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and telecast presentation titled "Protecting Your Intellectual Property: Best Practices for China in 2012". The speaker will be James Zimmerman (Sheppard Mullin). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Small Business Administration (SBA) will host a webcast program on the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) reauthorization act. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 151, Monday, August 6, 2012, at Page 46909.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a presentation titled "Federal Lobbying 2012: A Guide to Regulation and Compliance". The speaker will be Andrew Siff (Siff & Associates). 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.

Day one of a two day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "AIPLA Patent Prosecution Practical Patent Prosecution Training for New Lawyers". See, notice. For more information, contact aipla at aipla dot org or 703-415-0780. Location: Alexandria, VA.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the Wireline Competition Bureau's WCB) Public Notice [23 pages in PDF] regarding expanding FCC subsidies for rural health care providers to include broadband. The FCC released this item on July 19, 2012. It is DA 12-1166 in WC Docket No. 02-60. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 144, Thursday, July 26, 2012, at Pages 43773-43780.

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

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a presentation titled "Building Momentum: Advanced LinkedIn for Lawyers". The speaker will be Tasha Coleman (Upward Action). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and telecast panel discussion titled "The America Invents Act: The Boundaries of Prior Art". The speakers will be Steve Chang (Banner & Witcoff), Susanne Jones (O'Brien Jones), and Janet Hendrickson (Senniger Powers). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

Day two of a two day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "AIPLA Patent Prosecution Practical Patent Prosecution Training for New Lawyers". See, notice. For more information, contact aipla at aipla dot org or call 703-415-0780. Location: Alexandria, VA.

Day one of four of the Republican National Convention.

Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) regarding the complaints filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the US, Japan and EU against the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding its rare earth materials export policies. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 146, Monday, July 30, 2012, at Pages 44706-44707.

8/17. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted and released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [31 pages in PDF] regarding establishing and implementing the reconfigured 800 MHz channel plan along the U.S. Mexico border. Initial comments will be due within 30 of publication of a notice in the Federal Register (FR). Reply comments will be due with 45 days of such publication. The FCC has not yet published this FR notice. This NPRM is DA 12-1343 in WT Docket 02-55.

8/17. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces that the USPTO has extended the deadline to submit applications to the Humanitarian Awards Pilot Program to October 31, 2012. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 160, August 17, 2012, at Pages 49782-49783. The deadline had been August 31. See, original notice in the FR, Vol. 77, No. 26, February 8, 2012, at Pages 6544-6548.

8/16. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces and sets the comment deadline for its notice of inquiry regarding changing its trademark application filing fees. The deadline to submit comments is October 15, 2012. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 159, August 16, 2012, at Pages 49426-49427.

8/15. AT&T announced a public education campaign regarding texting and distracted driving. See, AT&T release, and statement by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

8/14. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) announcing recent Hart Scott Rodino (HSR) grants of early termination of the waiting period provided by law and the premerger notification rules. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 157, August 14, 2012, at Pages 48520-48523.

8/13. John Wiley & Sons, a publisher of books, journals and related products, announced in a release that it has "entered into a definitive agreement to sell all of its travel assets, including all of its interests in the Frommer's brand, to Google".

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