Voxx International’s EyeLock segment is diversifying into facial biometrics with its introduction of NanoFace facial recognition, said the company Thursday. “For the past decade, EyeLock has been focused on iris recognition, building a strong portfolio of intellectual property with over 100 patents or patents pending,” it said. Though iris authentication remains EyeLock’s “forte,” it will also offer other biometric applications “as enterprises and consumers continue to gravitate towards multi-modal applications,” it said. EyeLock President Allen Ibaugh said “the expansion into facial authentication is a natural fit.” The EyeLock biometrics segment generated $800,000 for Voxx in the fiscal nine months ended Nov. 30.
Roku went to court Wednesday to thwart “online counterfeiters” that allegedly trade upon its “reputation and goodwill” by selling products that infringe Roku’s trademarks. The defendants are dozens of “foreign entities” based mainly in China that are improperly marketing unauthorized and illegal products “either by reference to or embodying a mark that is identical or substantially identical” to Roku logos, causing “further confusion and deception in the marketplace,” said its complaint in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The alleged culprits are identified in documents that Roku seeks to file under seal. “Defendants attempt to avoid liability by going to great lengths to conceal both their identities and the full scope and interworking of their illegal counterfeiting operation,” said the complaint. Roku “has been and continues to be irreparably damaged through consumer confusion, dilution, and tarnishment of its valuable trademarks and goodwill and, therefore, seeks injunctive and monetary relief,” it said. It also seeks an order compelling Amazon and any other enabling “online marketplace account provider” to stop “providing services for any accounts” through which the defendants engage in the sale of counterfeit products, it said. Amazon didn’t comment Thursday.
There’s a “danger of complacency” in the information and communications tech supply chain that the economic risks of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will stay confined to Europe, Stephen Minton, IDC program vice president-data and analytics, told an IDC “first look” webinar Thursday on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the global ICT market. Minton estimates $240 billion or more in global ICT spending could be “wiped out” from the war through 2025, and that’s assuming the most “optimistic scenario” of a diplomatic end to the hostilities within three months.
The Forced Labor Working Group (FLWG) of the retail and fashion industries “proposes a holistic and collaborative multi-faceted framework” for enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) “that will meet U.S. jurisprudence and due process requirements,” including keeping a public database of bad actors and the tainted import goods they’re associated with, commented the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the U.S. Fashion Industry Association on the FLWG’s behalf, as posted Wednesday in docket DHS-2022-0001.
Samsung dupes the public by using the “game optimizing service” apps on its Galaxy smartphones, billed as preventing device overheating and extending battery life during long periods of gameplay, for “benchmark cheating,” alleged a fraud complaint Friday in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, that seeks class-action status. Samsung has programmed its devices to “run at faster than normal speeds” when they detect performance-measuring apps “used by reviewers and consumers to test and compare the speed and performance of smartphones and tablets,” it said. “Samsung knew that publications and review sites regularly use benchmarking apps to review and evaluate new devices and to compare those devices to competing or predecessor devices,” said the complaint. Samsung also knew if it “artificially boosted the performance of its devices when running benchmarking apps, reviewers and the public would falsely believe that the Devices were similarly as fast in real-world situations,” it said. Samsung “intentionally cheated on benchmarking apps to create a false perception regarding the speed and performance of the Devices, to thereby increase the demand for its new devices, and to support a high price-point for these devices -- all to the detriment of the buying public,” it said. The suit charges Samsung with unjust enrichment and violations of consumer protection laws. Samsung didn’t comment Monday.
U.S. importers sourced 3.15 million TV sets from all countries in all screen sizes in January, 8.2% fewer than in January 2021, but flat compared with December, according to Census data accessed Sunday through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb portal. The average January TV import had $336.94 in customs value, up 28.5% from January 2021 but down 1.6% from December. Average TV customs values peaked at $363.90 with October imports of finished sets still embedded with panels that soared to record-high pricing in midsummer before prices began falling rapidly in August and September. Average TV import values have since declined by about 7.4% from the October peak.
July 6 will be the fourth anniversary of the List 1 Section 301 tariffs taking effect on Chinese imports, and the 1974 Trade Act requires their expiration after four years, “unless some conditions are met,” said David Olave, a Sandler Travis associate and trade policy adviser, on a Thursday podcast. “No unilateral 301 action that I know has made it through the four years, so we’re about to witness trade policy procedural history,” he said.
The “regulatory framework” for data protection, privacy and information security is “evolving rapidly,” said Vizio’s 10-K annual report Thursday at the SEC. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) “prompted a number of proposals for federal and state privacy legislation,” it said. Virginia enacted the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) March 2 and Colorado enacted the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) July 7, “both of which are comprehensive privacy statutes that share similarities” with the CCPA and legislation proposed in other states, it said. “The CDPA and CPA will require us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply with these new laws before they become effective” Jan. 1, 2023, and July 1, 2023, respectively, it said. “The CDPA, CPA, and any other state or federal legislation that is passed, could increase our potential liability, add layers of complexity to compliance in the U.S. market, increase our compliance costs and adversely affect our business.” At least three states’ privacy bills appeared to fail last week as legislators struggled to reach agreement before their sessions ended (see 2203100062). Vizio settled with the FTC in 2017 over allegations the smart TV vendor collected viewing data on 11 million consumers without their consent or knowledge (see 1702080029). Vizio's "obligations" under the FTC settlement agreement remain in effect through 2037, said the 10-K.
Though the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) designates polysilicon as a “high-priority enforcement sector,” the polysilicon produced in Xinjiang, and elsewhere in China, “currently does not meet the extremely high levels of purity required for semiconductor-grade polysilicon,” commented the Semiconductor Industry Association in docket DHS-2022-0001. The comments posted there Friday were in response to a Department of Homeland Security notice in January on how best to comply with UFLPA measures for preventing goods produced with forced labor in China from being imported into the U.S. (see 2203110054).
The U.S. is “watching closely” whether China gives Russia “any form of support” to help Moscow evade the sanctions imposed over the Ukraine invasion, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN Sunday. The U.S. won't "stand by and allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses from the economic sanctions,” said Sullivan. “We are communicating directly and privately to Beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions-evasion efforts or support to Russia,” he said. A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson responded Monday that Beijing “opposes all forms of unilateral sanctions and the long-arm jurisdiction of the U.S., and will resolutely defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals.”