Nike's new trademark suit against a freight forwarder raises new questions about liability of service providers for counterfeiting violations, industry lawyers said. While the dispute began as one of a string of trademark cases against customs brokers, Nike expanded the lawsuit in August to directly allege counterfeiting by City Ocean. The forwarder has since moved to dismiss the case, and some lawyers agree that Nike’s arguments are threadbare at the moment. But the lawyer who first brought City Ocean into the case as a third party defendant says the forwarder, and CBP as well, should have noticed the allegedly counterfeit shipments were not as advertised.

A campaign against patent assertion entities is better suited for grassroots effort than other patent reform issues, said industry stakeholders and patent reform advocates in interviews this week. They said that as PAEs seek patent licensing fees or other recourse from a broader array of enterprises, it’s easier to get business owners and others beyond the Beltway to care and advocate about otherwise arcane issues in patent litigation and reform. The Application Developers Alliance, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Internet Association and other groups have taken that attitude to heart in starting nationwide campaigns against PAEs this summer.

A campaign against patent assertion entities is better suited for grassroots effort than other patent reform issues, said industry stakeholders and patent reform advocates in interviews this week. They said that as PAEs seek patent licensing fees or other recourse from a broader array of enterprises, it’s easier to get business owners and others beyond the Beltway to care and advocate about otherwise arcane issues in patent litigation and reform. The Application Developers Alliance, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Internet Association and other groups have taken that attitude to heart in starting nationwide campaigns against PAEs this summer.

A campaign against patent assertion entities is better suited for grassroots effort than other patent reform issues, said industry stakeholders and patent reform advocates in interviews this week. They said that as PAEs seek patent licensing fees or other recourse from a broader array of enterprises, it’s easier to get business owners and others beyond the Beltway to care and advocate about otherwise arcane issues in patent litigation and reform. The Application Developers Alliance, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Internet Association and other groups have taken that attitude to heart in starting nationwide campaigns against PAEs this summer.

Superstorm Sandy continues to occupy FCC officials’ time, as Verizon executives have been pushing for permission to discontinue three “obsolete” services that run on the copper destroyed in October. Telegraph, program audio and metallic service were being purchased by only seven customers in the affected areas, and none has objected to their discontinuance, Verizon said (http://bit.ly/19fhxrd): “There is no basis for delaying or denying Verizon’s filing.”

Mignon Clyburn has been acting chairwoman of the FCC since May 20 and has had what most observers see as an active chairmanship. On Aug. 9, the commission approved on a 2-1 vote what Clyburn had made clear was a top priority -- an order addressing high rates for prison calling (CD Aug 12 p1), though the order has yet to be released three weeks later. The big question many FCC observers were asking last week is how much more Clyburn will try to take on, especially since it’s unclear how much longer she has as interim chair. Will her tenure be over shortly after the commission’s Sept. 26 meeting, or will she still be acting chairwoman in November? The scenarios require different approaches, FCC and industry officials agree.

Japan will raise tariff rates to 17.4 percent on certain U.S. steel, bearings, and other industrial products as part of a Sept. 1 renewal of countermeasures against the Continued Dumping and Subsidization Offset Act, also known as the Byrd Amendment. The tariff rates were previously set at 4 percent, according to Japan.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel is taking a measured stance toward adoption of new E-rate rules, said her aide, Priscilla Argeris. The agency released a long-awaited rulemaking notice in July that offered competing proposals from the various commissioners (CD July 22 p1). It will be important to balance national goals with the needs of specific communities, Argeris said on the “Gigabit Nation” podcast Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1drde1R).

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel is taking a measured stance toward adoption of new E-rate rules, said her aide, Priscilla Argeris. The agency released a long-awaited rulemaking notice in July that offered competing proposals from the various commissioners (WID July 22 p7). It will be important to balance national goals with the needs of specific communities, Argeris said on the “Gigabit Nation” podcast Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1drde1R).

The value of LightSquared’s spectrum will be determined by how soon and how it can be used, said economists and wireless spectrum experts in recent interviews. They said lawsuits filed by its investor, its bankruptcy and other factors could affect LightSquared’s ability to deploy a terrestrial network.