Smith Bagley Chairman Kevin Frawley defended the carrier’s December petition for reconsideration urging the FCC to rethink 5G Fund rules for tribal areas, in a call with an aide to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Not creating "an opt-in plan for remote Tribal lands in the Continental United States, similar to that afforded carriers serving Alaska, was in error,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-32. The proposed $680 million over 10 years won’t be enough, the company said: Smith Bagley “is often quoted a fiber installation price of over $120,000 per mile.”

U.S. universities are opposing the Senate’s Strategic Competition Act of 2021 over a provision that would expand foreign investment screening to include foreign gifts over $1 million given to U.S. universities. In a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month, four academic groups said the expanded jurisdiction awarded to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. would subject “many gifts” received by colleges to a CFIUS review and would make it “harder” for colleges to conduct research.

The National Lifeline Association asked the FCC to begin a rulemaking to "substantially increase the Lifeline reimbursement" and implement changes to ensure it's the "best possible 'landing place' for low-income consumers" after the emergency broadband benefit program ends, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 11-42. NaLA asked to extend the de-enrollment waiver for Lifeline subscribers to Aug. 1 so consumers can "opt-in" to EBB "and reestablish usage of their Lifeline service without having to complete the more onerous EBB enrollment process or re-enroll in Lifeline."

The National Lifeline Association asked the FCC to begin a rulemaking to "substantially increase the Lifeline reimbursement" and implement changes to ensure it's the "best possible 'landing place' for low-income consumers" after the emergency broadband benefit program ends, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 11-42. NaLA asked to extend the de-enrollment waiver for Lifeline subscribers to Aug. 1 so consumers can "opt-in" to EBB "and reestablish usage of their Lifeline service without having to complete the more onerous EBB enrollment process or re-enroll in Lifeline."

The Patent and Trademark Office approved CTA’s second deadline extension request on filing a statement of use (SOU) for the association’s NextGenTV logo as a certification mark on ATSC 3.0-compliant TVs, agency records show. CTA has until Oct. 21 to file the SOU and is entitled to three more deadline extension requests of six months each. It must file by April 21, 2023, the third anniversary of the logo’s notice of allowance, or risk abandonment of the application. PTO requires the SOU as a final condition for issuing a registration certificate to prevent applicants from intentionally hoarding trademarks with no plan to deploy them commercially. CTA told us six months ago that it anticipated filing for no additional extensions because NextGenTVs were prevalent on the market and the logo was plainly in commercial use (see 2010270018). “We don’t anticipate further delays in the PTO process," said Brian Markwalter, CTA senior vice president-research and standards, when asked Wednesday about CTA's apparent reversal. The association is glad the NextGenTV logo "is now in the market -- and we expect sales of these products to grow exponentially," he said.

The Patent and Trademark Office approved CTA’s second deadline extension request on filing a statement of use (SOU) for the association’s NextGenTV logo as a certification mark on ATSC 3.0-compliant TVs, agency records show. CTA has until Oct. 21 to file the SOU and is entitled to three more deadline extension requests of six months each. It must file by April 21, 2023, the third anniversary of the logo’s notice of allowance, or risk abandonment of the application. PTO requires the SOU as a final condition for issuing a registration certificate to prevent applicants from intentionally hoarding trademarks with no plan to deploy them commercially. CTA told us six months ago that it anticipated filing for no additional extensions because NextGenTVs were prevalent on the market and the logo was plainly in commercial use (see 2010270018). “We don’t anticipate further delays in the PTO process," said Brian Markwalter, CTA senior vice president-research and standards, when asked Wednesday about CTA's apparent reversal. The association is glad the NextGenTV logo "is now in the market -- and we expect sales of these products to grow exponentially," he said.

Former U.S. negotiators for the Environmental Goods Agreement at the World Trade Organization say the collapse of talks in 2016 means trying again with the countries that are major players in solar panels, wind turbines and the like is not likely to be productive this year. Mark Linscott, former assistant U.S. trade representative at the WTO, said he thinks even getting the fisheries subsidies deal done in Geneva this year is “dicey.” He recalled that it seemed promising when a plurilateral approach was taken on EGA, and China, when it was in the rotating chair at the G-20 group of nations, it pushed for a ministerial statement on the EGA that said it had found a landing zone, and the countries would “aim to conclude ... an ambitious, future-oriented EGA that that seeks to eliminate tariffs on a broad range of environmental goods by an EGA Ministerial meeting to be held by the end of 2016.”

The Patent and Trademark Office approved CTA’s second deadline extension request on filing a statement of use (SOU) for the association’s NextGenTV logo as a certification mark on ATSC 3.0-compliant TVs, agency records show. CTA has until Oct. 21 to file the SOU and is entitled to three more deadline extension requests of six months each. It must file by April 21, 2023, the third anniversary of the logo’s notice of allowance, or risk abandonment of the application. PTO requires the SOU as a final condition for issuing a registration certificate to prevent applicants from intentionally hoarding trademarks with no plan to deploy them commercially. CTA told us six months ago that it anticipated filing for no additional extensions because NextGenTVs were prevalent on the market and the logo was plainly in commercial use (see 2010270018). “We don’t anticipate further delays in the PTO process," said Brian Markwalter, CTA senior vice president-research and standards, when asked Wednesday about CTA's apparent reversal. The association is glad the NextGenTV logo "is now in the market -- and we expect sales of these products to grow exponentially," he said.

The following are short summaries of CBP rulings recently added to the agency's CROSS database (any rulings that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another Trade Law Daily article):

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was asked to be more flexible on ReConnect, during a virtual listening session Tuesday. Consider changing more program loans to grants, said Yurok Tribe Council member Lana McCovey. "The repayment process would be hard to do." Akiak Technology CEO Kevin Hamer agreed: "The only way that we're going to get access as an unserved area is through infrastructure grants, not loans." Exclude low earth orbit satellites, Hamer said. Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government Project Manager Dylan Conduzzi asked for reconsideration of satellite technology: "There are no other back-haul options available to us." Allow more flexibility in the grant application process, said Raymond Concho, Acoma Pueblo transportation planner. "We just don't have the matching funds, especially after the past year." Guiding principles from tribal leaders in recent months included requiring tribal government resolutions of support for broadband applicants, increasing flexibility for applicants, enabling tribal governments to serve their own lands, allowing tribes to certify whether they're served or underserved, and requiring compliance with tribal government regulations for all broadband recipients serving tribal lands, USDA staff said. Comments on eligibility requirements are due April 27 (see 2102260044).