The Customs and Border Protection ruling that some Google device imports continue to infringe Sonos multiroom audio patents in violation of the International Trade Commission’s Jan. 6 limited exclusion order (see 2201100021) “temporarily impacts a small number of Pixel users who set up a speaker or display for the first time with the Device Utility App,” emailed a Google spokesperson Tuesday. “We will work with them to minimize disruption" as Google complies with CBP's orders to disable the app, he said. "Our support teams are on hand to fix any issues they have and if needed, we will send replacement devices or offer a Google store credit." Google has worked hard over the years to be sure that the customers it shares with Sonos "would have a positive experience," said the spokesperson. Google is "disappointed that Sonos continues to use the legal system in a way that deliberately creates issues for these users,” he said. Sonos publicists emailed journalists with links to the CBP ruling, which was dated June 3 and released publicly Tuesday, along with a statement from Sonos Chief Legal Officer Eddie Lazarus accusing Google of “flouting” the ITC’s import ban. “This finding marks yet another example of Google continuing to misuse our intellectual property and acting in wholesale disregard of the law,” said Lazarus.
As Netflix tries to wield an ad-supported VOD offering (see 2204200002), “I personally don't see them having a massive material impact on the market overall in this year,” though there will be “some impact” next year, said Cinedigm Chief Strategy Officer Erick Opeka on an earnings call Tuesday for fiscal Q4 ended March 31. Cinedigm’s 30-channel streaming portfolio scored new highs for viewer engagement in the quarter, but the company’s historically low stock price is causing ongoing frustration for investors and senior management, said CEO Chris McGurk.
Consumer intentions on buying new TV sets declined sharply in June, compared with May, according to preliminary Conference Board data released Tuesday. Analytics company Toluna canvassed 5,000 U.S. homes for the board through June 22, finding 10.2% plan to buy a new TV set in the next six months, down from 11.4% in May, 11.3% in April and 11.6% in June 2021. Consumer confidence fell for the second straight month in June, and the board’s “expectations index” -- a measure of consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions -- fell to its lowest value in nearly a decade, said the board: “Consumers’ grimmer outlook was driven by increasing concerns about inflation, in particular rising gas and food prices.” The numbers suggest weaker growth in the second half of 2022, plus a “growing risk of recession by year-end,” it said.
Nearly two-thirds of telecom decision-makers in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific think it will take another one to three years before 5G technology becomes mainstream, a Jabil poll found. “Continued growth in 5G complexity and diversity creates a wealth of opportunities as well as obstacles for traditional telco service providers, equipment manufacturers and software developers,” said Emanuele Cavallaro, Jabil president-communications and networking.
Though the global outlook for online video subscriptions remains “very positive,” Netflix projections of losing 2 million more subscribers in Q2 (see 2204190066) is ample warning that online video services “cannot take growth for granted,” reported Omdia Monday. Netflix reports second-quarter results July 19.
BlackBerry’s sale of its “legacy” patent portfolio for $600 million (see 2201310001) remains on hold as buyer Catapult IP Innovations works on securing the financing, said CEO John Chen on an earnings call Thursday for its fiscal Q1 ended May 31. Because the sale has taken longer than expected, BlackBerry is “no longer under exclusivity” with Catapult, and “we are free to explore new options as they come our way,” he said. “We will provide more details as and when appropriate.” Under terms of the Catapult deal, BlackBerry will get back a license to the patents being sold, which mainly involve mobile devices, messaging, wireless networking and other businesses in which BlackBerry is no longer actively involved. “We are being approached by others” seeking to buy the legacy patents, said Chen. “I am not actively looking” for buyers “or starting from square one,” he said. “I want to make sure that the shareholder knows that we are not just stuck with one option,” he said. “We do expect to see, and we would like to see, the previously announced deal with Catapult” progress to completion, he said. “We have been getting calls, and we are now responding to the calls because now the exclusivity has expired.”
FedEx anticipates consumers “will keep spending” in the rest of calendar 2022, but that their purchases “will continue tilting toward services from goods,” said Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere on an earnings call Thursday for fiscal 2022's Q4 ended May 31. Despite the “increasingly challenging global backdrop,” FedEx finished the year with its highest-ever annual revenue of $93.5 billion, up 11% year over year, said CEO Raj Subramaniam on the call, his first since being named chief executive in March.
In the FCC’s further NPRM on ATSC 3.0, released Wednesday in docket 16-142 (see 2206220067), the commission seeks comment on the extent to which patent licensing may be “inhibiting the development of 3.0 TV sets or other 3.0 equipment by non-patent holders.” Comments are due 30 days, replies 60 days, after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has 32 extra days, until Aug. 1, to file its Lists 3 and 4A tariff remand results in the Section 301 litigation, said an order in docket 1:21-cv-52 signed Wednesday by the three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade. DOJ, on USTR’s behalf, asked for a 60-day extension to Aug. 30 to fix its Administrative Procedure Act violations, citing the volume of work required to meet the remand order, plus the agency’s limited staff resources and the additional projects compounding its workload (see 2206210030). Akin Gump lawyers for test-case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products urged the court to stick to its original June 30 deadline, arguing USTR shouldn’t be given more time to do a new post hoc review of the submitted Lists 3 and 4A comments and hearing testimony. If USTR needs an additional deadline extension beyond Aug. 1, DOJ “should address in greater detail” USTR’s reasons for the request, said Wednesday’s order. It cited language in the April 1 remand order that the agency may further explain only the justifications it previously gave for imposing the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs without introducing new rationales that didn’t exist before. A joint status report from DOJ and the plaintiffs is due 14 days after the remand results are filed, including a proposed schedule “for the further disposition of this litigation,” said Wednesday’s order.
The fate of the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, plus any new tariff exclusions process that may be imposed, “are under consideration for a decision as we speak right now,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce. The Biden administration asked Congress for $76.54 million in USTR funding for fiscal 2023, an 8% increase from the $71 million appropriated in FY 2022.