The Senate Finance Committee should resolve the questions on antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement and work to get customs reauthorization legislation to the Senate floor this year, wrote a group of media and other companies and associations to committee leaders. Thursday’s letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, emphasized the importance of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act of 2013. The S-662 bill has stalled over disagreement on how to handle and update some duty enforcement. The letter writers would like the committee to mark up “and move this bipartisan legislation to the Senate floor this year,” wrote Comcast’s NBCUniversal, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Viacom, Walmart and others (http://uscham.com/17o2zmx). The legislation would make important updates to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s abilities to deal with imports that violate intellectual property laws, they said. Industries that rely on IP protections make up a significant amount of U.S. jobs and exports, but “American creativity, innovation, and respected brands are under attack by those who seek to profit by illegally copying and distributing goods into the U.S. marketplace or into other markets around the world,” the letter said. “To combat this massive threat, this bill would provide appropriate legal authority and resources to CBP and ICE. This bill would also promote collaboration by these agencies with rights holders and provide authorization for the National IPR [Intellectual Property Rights] Coordination Center.” The customs bill would also set an important “benchmark” as negotiations continue on various trade agreements, said the letter. With the World Trade Organization working on “completing a global Trade Facilitation Agreement and both the Transpacific Partnership” and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations “focused on raising the global standards for supply chains, customs, and trade facilitation, the timing of this legislation is critical,” it said.

The FCC approved by a 3-0 vote Monday technical rules for the 700 MHz broadband spectrum licensed to FirstNet, with an eye on prompting equipment makers to start seeking certification for devices first responders will use on the network. The FCC also approved an industry agreement on 700 MHz interoperability through an electronic vote Friday, taking the item off the agenda for the commission’s October meeting Monday.

Patent litigation revamp legislation that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is expected to introduce within the next few weeks is likely to reflect the spirit of the Innovation Act (HR-3309), which House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., introduced Wednesday -- but it’s unlikely to be a direct analog, patent debate participants told us in interviews last week. Goodlatte and Leahy have been closely coordinating the development of their separate bills, with Leahy saying soon after the Innovation Act’s introduction that he and Goodlatte “share a common goal” to curb abusive patent litigation and would continue to work on it going forward (CED Oct 24 p12).

Patent litigation revamp legislation that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is set to introduce within the next few weeks is likely to reflect the spirit of the Innovation Act (HR-3309), which House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., introduced Wednesday -- but it’s unlikely to be a direct analog, patent debate participants told us in interviews last week. Goodlatte and Leahy have been closely coordinating the development of their separate bills, with Leahy saying soon after the Innovation Act’s introduction that he and Goodlatte “share a common goal” to curb abusive patent litigation and would continue to work on it going forward (CD Oct 24 p12).

The Senate Finance Committee should resolve the questions on antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement and work to get customs reauthorization legislation to the Senate floor this year, a group of companies and trade associations said in a letter to committee leaders. The Oct. 24 letter was sent to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and emphasized the importance of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act of 2013 (S. 662), which has stalled over disagreement on how to handle and update AD/CV duty enforcement (see 13040911).

Patent litigation revamp legislation that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is expected to introduce within the next few weeks is likely to reflect the spirit of the Innovation Act (HR-3309), but is unlikely to be a direct analog, patent debate participants said in interviews last week. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., introduced Wednesday the Innovation Act, and he and Leahy have been closely coordinating the development of their separate bills. Leahy said soon after the Innovation Act’s introduction that he and Goodlatte “share a common goal” to curb abusive patent litigation and will continue to work on it going forward (WID Oct 24 p1).

Panelists disagreed whether a newly released patent reform bill took a “broad brush” approach to patent law or just narrowly targets the patent trolling behavior it intends to stymie. The bill’s sponsor, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., took his case for the Innovation Act (HR-3309) to a Thursday event at the American Enterprise Institute event, calling the legislation a “necessary” improvement and a fix to the “current asymmetries surrounding patent litigation.” An Internet industry association representative and law professor agreed, praising the bill’s fee-shifting and transparency measures. But a tech giant’s intellectual property counsel cautioned the bill could create “collateral damage” in the patent ecosystem with it’s “one-size-fits-all” approach to patent litigation.

Panelists disagreed whether a newly released patent reform bill took a “broad brush” approach to patent law or just narrowly targets the patent trolling behavior it intends to stymie. The bill’s sponsor, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., took his case for the Innovation Act (HR-3309) to a Thursday event at the American Enterprise Institute event, calling the legislation a “necessary” improvement and a fix to the “current asymmetries surrounding patent litigation.” An Internet industry association representative and law professor agreed, praising the bill’s fee-shifting and transparency measures. But a tech giant’s intellectual property counsel cautioned the bill could create “collateral damage” in the patent ecosystem with it’s “one-size-fits-all” approach to patent litigation.

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing new Food Safety Modernization Act regulations for animal food, including feed and pet food. The proposed rule, set for publication in the Oct. 29, Federal Register, would set current good manufacturing practices (CGMP), as well as hazard analysis and risk-based preventative controls requirements. Importers of animal foods would have to verify their foreign suppliers’ compliance with these CGMP and preventative controls regulations, as part of the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (see 13072628). FDA’s CGMP and preventative controls requirements for animal food largely mirror requirements FDA proposed for human food in January (see 13010429). Comments on the proposed rule are due by Feb. 26, except for comments on information collection issues, which are due by Nov. 29.

Panelists disagreed whether a newly released patent reform bill took a “broad brush” approach to patent law or just narrowly targets the patent trolling behavior it intends to stymie. The bill’s sponsor, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., took his case for the Innovation Act (HR-3309) to a Thursday event at the American Enterprise Institute event, calling the legislation a “necessary” improvement and a fix to the “current asymmetries surrounding patent litigation.” An Internet industry association representative and law professor agreed, praising the bill’s fee-shifting and transparency measures. But a tech giant’s intellectual property counsel cautioned the bill could create “collateral damage” in the patent ecosystem with it’s “one-size-fits-all” approach to patent litigation.