The Apple Music service, plus the equipment, software and applications "implementing" it, infringe four U.S. patents dating to 2006 describing methods of creating and posting media for playback or for sharing in a communications network, alleged a complaint (in Pacer) Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Plaintiff Post Media owns the patents, all naming technology entrepreneur Alan Bartholomew as the sole inventor, said the complaint. Patent and Trademark Office records show they were originally assigned to Trio Systems in Pasadena, California. The patents are “rooted in computerized electronic data communications networks,” and describe “an improved method to deliver content and provide interface among different accounts and computing systems,” said the complaint. Bartholomew is nearing retirement and “spent much money and effort to develop his inventions and procure patents,” it said. He “hopes to recoup his costs without incurring financial risk to his family,” and so “turned to Post Media, whose purpose in part is to conduct the work necessary to reward and provide compensation to Mr. Bartholomew for the patents in suit,” it said. Apple didn’t comment.

Florida startup Corellium bases its business “entirely on commercializing the illegal replication of the copyrighted operating system and applications that run on Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices,” alleged an Apple complaint (in Pacer) Thursday in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach: “This is a straightforward case of infringement of highly valuable copyrighted works,” said the complaint, which was inexplicably terminated early Friday. “The product Corellium offers is a ‘virtual’ version of Apple mobile hardware products, accessible to anyone with a web browser,” it alleged. “Corellium serves up what it touts as a perfect digital facsimile of a broad range of Apple’s market-leading devices.” It recreates them “with fastidious attention to detail not just the way the operating system and applications appear visually to bona fide purchasers, but also the underlying computer code,” it said. It has “no license or permission from Apple,” it said. “Enough is enough.” Apple sought permanent injunction effectively shutting down Corellium, plus an order requiring notifications sent to all Corellium customers that continued use of the products “infringes Apple’s copyrights.” Corellium didn’t comment Friday, nor did Apple.

The U.S. should warn China that it will ban all Chinese companies from American markets in specific sectors that Chinese hackers target for intellectual property theft, blogged American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Claude Barfield Wednesday. If warnings go ignored, act on the threats, “even if no direct technology theft and transfer is identified,” he said.

Comments are due Aug. 23 on a Tariff Act Section 337 complaint filed with the International Trade Commission seeking a ban on imports of Honeywell and HTC wireless communication devices used in smart home systems, says a notice for Thursday's Federal Register. Innovation Science’s alleges products in Resideo Technologies’ Honeywell Lynx, Lyric and Smart lines of devices, plus in HTC cellphones, infringe its patents on wireless communications. The infringing devices allegedly include smart thermostats, home control and monitoring systems and associated wireless security sensors, controllers and smart video cameras. Innovation seeks a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders banning import and sale of infringing devices from Resideo and HTC. "We do not discuss ongoing litigation," emailed a Resideo spokesperson Wednesday. HTC didn't comment.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer shouldn’t include certain copyright infringement liability protections for online platforms in trade deals, the Free State Foundation blogged Thursday. FSF cited the “ineffective” Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act covering a notice and takedown process for when online service providers receive limited liability protection for hosting infringing content and activity. “Congress needs to reexamine Section 512 as a matter of modernizing U.S. domestic law to reduce illegal copyright infringement,” before including it in trade deals, wrote FSF. It cited a similar request for Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act from the House Commerce Committee (see 1908060064).

DOJ should maintain the ASCAP and BMI music licensing consent decrees, a coalition of free market groups wrote Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday (see 1906060017). Frontiers of Freedom, Americans for Limited Government, Center for Freedom and Prosperity, and The Latino Coalition were among groups signing the letter. They urged DOJ not to potentially disrupt millions of businesses by replacing one form of government regulation with another, as termination of the consent decrees would require some form of regulation over the market. DOJ didn't comment.

New TiVo CEO Dave Shull is “always willing to enter into a productive business dialogue” to license TiVo’s intellectual property to Comcast, “but in the meanwhile we are committed to the litigation and Comcast continues to incur liability for their violations of our IP," he said on a Q2 earnings call Wednesday. “Litigation is a core part of any IP business,” said Shull, hired May 31 as TiVo CEO after careers at the Weather Channel and Dish Network. “While I would always prefer to get to a fair business deal without litigation, if the other party is not reasonable then we have no choice but to litigate.” TiVo declared “legal victory” June 4 after winning a “favorable determination” from an International Trade Commission administrative judge that Comcast’s X1 platform infringes TiVo-owned Rovi patents. “We have a portfolio of more than 5,000 patents and applications, hundreds of which cover technology innovations” for the X1 “user experience,” said Shull. “While Comcast may be able to design around any single patent if we are able to demonstrate that they have violated even a small percentage of these hundreds of patents, the Comcast service will likely continue to lose features that are important to their customers.” Since the ITC process allows TiVo to bring infringement actions on only “a few of these patents at a time, we committed to this lengthy process at the outset,” he said. Comcast didn’t comment Thursday.

Sustaining the rise of e-commerce wouldn't be “possible without user trust in online services,” commented the Computer & Communications Industry Association Monday in the Trump administration’s inquiry into the trafficking of counterfeit goods. President Donald Trump’s April 3 memorandum said the Commerce Department would collaborate with other federal agencies on a report due Oct. 30 with recommendations how to curb the illicit trafficking. Internet companies “across the spectrum devote significant resources to maintaining trust in online purchases,” said CCIA. “Combating counterfeit and pirated goods online is central to these efforts.” The administration’s study “could help ensure that online sales are trusted environments, and that digital e-commerce can continue to grow and benefit sellers of all sizes,” it said. “CCIA encourages the relevant agencies to take into account all of the existing work and vigorous attention to this issue,” while steering clear of “mandated requirements” that would have “significant consequences for smaller competitors,” it said. It also sought “better facilitation of information sharing between enforcement agencies,” including Customs and Border Protection, to fight counterfeits.

Flex is terminating its "Huawei-dedicated" contract-manufacturing operations in China after the Trump administration's trade blacklist crimped demand for the telecom-equipment maker's products, said CEO Revathi Advaithi on a fiscal Q1 call. That, plus the decision phasing out unprofitable consumer tech businesses worldwide, will cost up to $1.6 billion annually in lost revenue and boost margins, said Advaithi, who was hired as CEO in February. Flex closed up 13 percent Friday to $11.26. The “well-publicized action by the U.S. government” caused Huawei “significant geopolitical uncertainty” that was “beyond our control,” reducing demand “for products we assemble for them in China,” said Advaithi Thursday. “Flex and Huawei have had a longstanding and successful partnership. We have worked with them to find an agreeable solution. This change is unfortunate.” China will remain a “very important center of production” for Flex, where it has “a significant presence, including tens of thousands of employees,” she said.

The National Retail Federation supported the Trump administration’s efforts to “modernize” the North American Free Trade Agreement “to reflect today’s business environment and support long-term U.S. economic growth,” and so it urges Congress to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade, wrote Senior Vice President-Government Relations David French to House and Senate leaders Wednesday. Retailers are “encouraged by some of the new and updated provisions in USMCA relating to digital trade, cross-border data flows, and customs and trade facilitation,” said French. The internet has “changed the way everyone does business, along with ways that consumers purchase goods and interact with retailers,” he said. “As value chains have deepened, cross-border data flows have grown,” he said. “These modernized provisions will help ensure that the new agreement reflects today’s global economy.”