8/14. The U.S. Court of Appeals (1stCir) issued its opinion in GTE Wireless v.Cellexis, a case involving the effect of an agreement not to sue for certain intellectual property claims regarding cell phone technology. Following an earlier lawsuit brought by Cellexis and Freedom Wireless against GTE alleging that GTE stole its trade secrets by using Cellexis's technology for prepaid cellular telephone service, Cellexis signed a settlement agreement that stated that Cellexis and its principals would not sue GTE and its affiliates, partnerships, joint ventures, and successors in the future over GTE's use of the technology. The issue is whether future affiliates of GTE are covered by the settlement agreement. The District Court held on summary judgment that the settlement agreement did not reach entities that subsequently became affiliates of GTE. The Appeals Court reversed and remanded. It held that based on the procedural history and extrinsic evidence there are conflicting reasonable interpretations of the contract language, and that these conflicting interpretations create a triable issue of fact. This is GTW Wireless, Inc, f/k/a GTE Mobilnet Service Corp, v. Cellexis International, Inc., Freedom Wireless, Inc., and Douglas V. Fougnies, No. 02-2174, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Judge Douglas Woodlock presiding.

8/11. The U.S. Court of Appeals (10thCir) issued its opinion in Pirraglia v. Novell, a class action securities fraud case regarding the heightened pleading requirements of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). The District Court dismissed the complaint pursuant to Rule 129b)(6), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Appeals Court affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is Domenico Pirraglia, et al. v. Novell, Inc, Joseph Marengi, James Tolonen, and John Young, No. 02-4077, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, D.C. No. 99-CV-995-C.

8/11. The U.S. Court of Appeals (10thCir) issued its opinion in Adams v. Kinder Morgan, a class action securities fraud case regarding the heightened pleading requirements of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). The District Court dismissed the complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Appeals Court reversed the dismissal as to three defendants, but affirmed as to a fourth, and remanded. This is James Adams, et al. v. Kinder Morgan, Inc., Larry Hall, Clyde McKenzie, and Richard Kinder, No. 02-1208, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, D.C. No. 00-N-516.

8/12. The U.S. District Court (SDNY) issued an order [20 pages in PDF] in In Re Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.: Research Reports Securities Litigation. The Court denied plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration of the Court's previous order dismissing with prejudice the amended complaints in the 24/7 Real Media, Inc. and Interliant consolidated actions. The Court also denied plaintiffs' motion to amend their consolidated amended complaint.

8/15. Microtune stated in a release that the U.S. District Court (EDTex) awarded it injunctive and monetary relief in a patent infringement action against Broadcom. On January 24, 2001, Microtune filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Texas against alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,737,035, titled "Highly Integrated Television Tuner on a Single Microcircuit." Microtune, based in Plano, Texas, makes RF broadband chips for use in cable modems, set-top boxes, PC/TV multimedia, TV/digital TV and other consumer appliances. It alleged that Broadcom's BCM 3415 microchip infringes its patent. Microtune added in its release that "On August 14, 2003 in a hearing before the same Court, the Court determined that significant fact issues remain concerning Broadcom's BCM3416 tuner chipset and Microtune's '035 patent and that these fact issues should be resolved by a jury. The Court has currently set a trial date for June 7, 2004." There is also other pending patent litigation between the parties. For example, on January 27, 2003, Broadcom filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court (NDCal) against Microtune alleging patent infringement. Broadcom alleges that tuners, power amplifiers and Bluetooth products made by Microtune infringe its U.S. Patent No. 6,445,039B1, titled "System And Method For ESD Protection", U.S. Patent Nos. 5,682,379 titled "Wireless Personal Local Area Network" and U.S. Patent No. 6,359,872 titled "Wireless Personal Local Area Network."

8/15. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that its 12th Street Entrance will reopen on Monday, August 18, 2003. See, release [PDF].

8/15. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a release regarding the August 14 power outage in the Northeast and Midwest, and the resulting closure of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) offices. The USPTO stated that it "is designating the interruption in the service of the USPS as a postal service interruption and an emergency within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 21(a) and 37 C.F.R. 1.6(e). As soon as the USPTO receives further information from the USPS as to when postal services in the affected areas will be resumed, the USPTO will post the information on the USPTO's Internet Web site at www.uspto.gov and a final notice will be published in the Official Gazette." The USPTO added that "Correspondence that would have been filed with the USPTO under 37 CFR 1.10 during this USPS service interruption, but which was not filed due to the USPS service interruption, should be filed promptly after the termination of the USPS service interruption with a statement that the correspondence would have been deposited with the USPS but for the designated interruption or emergency in ``Express Mail´´ service."

8/15. The LOCAL Television Loan Guarantee Board published a notice in the Federal Register that recites and describes a proposed regulation to implement the LOCAL Television Loan Guarantee Program, as authorized by the Launching Our Communities' Access to Local (LOCAL) Television Act of 2000. The purpose of the Act is to facilitate access to signals of local TV stations in nonserved areas and underserved areas. The Act establishes a LOCAL Television Loan Guarantee Board to approve guarantees of up to 80% of loans totaling no more than $1.25 Billion. The regulation proposes to establish eligibility and guarantee requirements, the application and approval process, the administration of guarantees, and the process through which the Board will consider applications under the priority considerations required in the Act. Written comments are due by September 15, 2003. Comments regarding the information and recordkeeping requirements are due by October 14, 2003. See, Federal Register, August 15, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 158, at Pages 48814 - 48833. See also, Treasury release.

8/15. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Peter Sheridan to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The White House release announcing the prospective appointment states that "President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate one individual to serve in his administration: ..." The release does not explain in what capacity Sheridan will "serve in his administration", or how such service would be consistent with judicial independence.

The House is in recess until September 3. Senate is in recess until September 2. The Supreme Court is in recess until October 6.

10:15 AM - 12:00 NOON. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "Trade in Services: Is More Liberalization Possible in the Doha Round?". The speakers will be Stephen Canner (U.S. Council for International Business), James Mendenhall (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative), and Robert Vastine (U.S. Coalition of Services Industries). See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th Floor, 1150 17th Street, NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) pertaining to the possibility of incorporating receiver performance specifications into the FCC's spectrum policy. This NOI follows the recommendations of the FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Force (SPTF) report [PDF] of November 15, 2002. See, story titled "FCC Announces NOI Re Receiver Performance Standards" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 624, March 17, 2003. See also, notice in the Federal Register, May 5, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 86, at Pages 23677 - 23686. This is ET Docket No. 03-65, FCC 03-54. For more information, contact Hugh Van Tuyl at the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) at 202 418-7506 or hvantuyl@fcc.gov.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking, released on April 30, 2003, regarding changes to its rules implementing the FCCs policy to carry forward unused funds from the schools and libraries universal support mechanism (aka e-rate subsidies) in subsequent funding years. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 20, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 119, at Pages 36961 - 36967.

12:00 NOON. Gordon England, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will give a speech titled "Leading the Department of Homeland Security: Progress and Challenges of Transition during the War on Terrorism". See, notice. Location: Lehrman Auditorium: Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave NE.

9:30 AM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold an initial conference in EPIC v. DHS, D.C. No. 1:2003cv1255. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Location: Courtroom 11, 333 Constitution Ave. NW.

10:00 AM. Ed Thomas, Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) will hold a press briefing and tour at the FCC's Columbia, Maryland laboratory facility. For more information, contact Lauren Van Wazer at 202 418-0030 or laurenvanwazer@fcc.gov. Location: 7435 Oakland Mills Road, Columbia, MD.

2:00 PM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold an status conference in Communications Workers of America v. Verizon, D.C. No. 1:2001cv2633. Location: Courtroom 11, 333 Constitution Ave. NW

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regarding its proposed rule to require that CBP must receive, by electronic data interchange system, information pertaining to cargo before the cargo is either brought into or sent from the U.S. by any mode of commercial transportation. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 23, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 141, at Pages 43573 - 43606.