The International Trade Commission lifted a limited exclusion order banning imports of Comcast X1 set-top boxes that the agency issued in April, said an ITC notice in Tuesday's Federal Register. Issued during a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation requested by Rovi, limited exclusion and cease and desist orders are no longer necessary because Rovi and Comcast reached a settlement, the ITC said.

Intel denies “each and every” Philips allegation its video processors infringe high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) patents and that it violated 1974 Trade Act Section 337 when it imported the components into the U.S. (see 2011190048), said the chipmaker Friday in docket 337-TA-1224 at the International Trade Commission, responding (login required). The HDCP patents are “unenforceable” due to Philips’ “inequitable conduct,” said Intel. Philips and its “prosecuting agent,” Michael Epstein, published an “open copy protection system” (OCPS) proposal more than a year before filing its first HDCP patent application, it said. The OCPS proposal was “material to the later prosecution and examination” of the patents, said Intel. Philips and Epstein failed to disclose “this material prior art” to the Patent and Trademark Office, it said. “The most reasonable inference is that Philips’ failure to disclose such material prior art during prosecution was an intentional fraud” on the PTO, it said. Philips didn’t respond to questions Monday. Epstein’s LinkedIn profile identifies him as Philips’ director-standardization. Attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.

The European Commission proposed standard contractual clauses for personal data transfers from the EU to third countries, the European Data Protection Board said Friday. This will align SCCs with the EU general data protection regulation and the judgment of the European Court of Justice in "Schrems II" (see 2010190059). They will "better reflect the widespread use of new and more complex processing operations often involving multiple data importers and exporters." The EDPB and European Data Protection Supervisor will vet the draft. SCCs "are not a catch-all solution for data transfers post-Schrems II," said EDPB Chair Andrea Jelinek: They're an important piece of the puzzle but it's up to data exporters to "make the puzzle complete" by bringing the level of protection of data they transfer up to the EU standard of essential equivalence.

IHS Markit expects 5G-related investment in China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. to average more than $260 billion annually through 2035, it said Tuesday in a Qualcomm-commissioned report on the role of 5G in a post-pandemic economy. The “isolation” of lockdowns “underscored the importance of communication technology in keeping social networks connected and economic systems resilient,” said IHS. “Deepening deployment” of 5G and the products and services flowing from it will “fundamentally support and enable the emergent requirements of the post-pandemic world for connectivity, flexibility, and resiliency,” it said. The need for expanded connectivity during COVID-19 is “invigorating 5G investment growth” even as other investment activities are declining, said the researcher. It projects an 11% increase in global 5G investment and R&D through 2035, compared with its 2019 forecast. The contribution of 5G to online shopping can “enhance the customer experience, especially in the aftermath of COVID-19,” said IHS. The faster speeds and lower latency of 5G “can enable long-form video advertisements to deliver more features and product information,” it said. Augmented and virtual reality enabled through 5G “can become the perfect conduit for an immersive in-store experience by giving the customer a full view of all products on display,” it said. Also, when combined with artificial intelligence, “chatbots can provide an interactive experience that is better than having a personal shopper.”

Huawei hopes to “reset” its relations with the U.S. under President-elect Joe Biden, said Paul Scanlan, Huawei Carrier Business Group chief technology officer, on CNBC Sunday. When there “is a change in government, there is always the opportunity to reset relationships,” he said: “There should be more dialogue. We would welcome more dialogue. … With dialogue comes understanding, and with understanding comes trust.” The FCC approved items targeting Huawei under Chairman Ajit Pai (see 2009040050).

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. has “deep regret” about the Trump administration imposing national security export restrictions on China’s largest chipmaker (see 2009080057), said SMIC Chairman Zhou Zixue on a Q3 investor call Wednesday. Though the restrictions “will have an impact on SMIC in the near term, we believe it’s manageable,” he said. “The company will maintain close cooperation with suppliers and customers and continue to maintain active communication with the relevant department of the United States government working to resolve possible differences.” SMIC supplies products and services only for “civilian end users,” said co-CEO Zhao Haijun. “SMIC strictly complies with the laws and regulations of all jurisdictions where we conduct business. Over the years, we have established good cooperative relations with well-known customers and semiconductor equipment suppliers in the United States and internationally.” The company is working with U.S. suppliers to apply for export licenses, he said: It risks longer delivery lead times for equipment and raw materials due to the restrictions.

Amazon may have violated EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in online retail markets, the European Commission said Tuesday. It's concerned that large quantities of nonpublic seller data are being made available to employees of Amazon's retail business, allowing the data to be aggregated and used to calibrate detail offers and strategic business decisions to the detriment of rivals. The EC's preliminary view is that use of nonpublic marketplace seller data lets Amazon avoid the normal risks of retail competition and leverage its market dominance in France and Germany, the two biggest EU markets. The EC began a second investigation into business practices it said might artificially favor Amazon's own retail offers and those of sellers who use its logistics and delivery services. It's looking at whether criteria for enabling sellers to offer products to Prime users under the Prime loyalty program leads to preferential treatment of Amazon's or those sellers' retail businesses. Amazon "disagrees with the preliminary assertions of the European Commission and will continue to make every effort to ensure it has an accurate understanding of the facts, a spokesperson said. "No company cares more about small businesses or has done more to support them over the past two decades" Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Alex Petros urged U.S. policymakers to "look to the Commission as a model for aggressively working to address these serious concerns" and to create a digital regulator for oversight of platform markets. The antitrust case is "trade protectionism by another name," said Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Ryan Young. "Amazon has made retail more competitive," with third-party seller services giving smaller businesses access to a global market they didn't previously have. Meanwhile, traditional large retailers such as Walmart and grocery stores have expanded their online options to compete against Amazon, he said.

Walmart announced an agreement to sell its retail operations in Argentina. The company will record a noncash loss of about $1 billion, after tax, in Q3 FY 2021, primarily due to cumulative foreign currency translation losses, it said Friday in an SEC filing.

Microchip Technology halted all Huawei shipments in mid-September in compliance with the further Commerce Department export restrictions on the Chinese tech giant that were imposed in August (see 2008170043), said President-Chief Operating Officer Ganesh Moorthy on a Thursday investor call for fiscal Q2, ended Sept. 30. Huawei generated about 2% of Microchip’s Q2 revenue, down sequentially from Q1, said Moorthy, who will succeed Steve Sanghi as CEO March 1 as Sanghi transitions to executive chairman. Microchip is working with Commerce “to apply for licenses for products and technologies that we believe have no impact” on U.S. national security, he said. “We do not know if or when such licenses may be granted,” so Microchip assumes no Huawei revenue in the fiscal third quarter ending Dec. 31, he said. Huawei's push to complete manufacturing of all products before the shipment ban took effect caused wide-scale supply chain "constraints" during the September quarter, he said. The rush of Huawei’s competitors to replace the business Huawei lost “further stressed the supply chain,” he said. The “ongoing shift” of semiconductor manufacturing out of China to avoid the Section 301 tariffs also pressured “the capacity in other Asian countries where we manufacture through our partners,” he said. The supply chain disruptions "are continuing into the December quarter,” he said.

Huawei never caused “a single cybersecurity incident” in the 30 years it has been building networks globally, said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Wednesday when asked about the U.S. pressuring other countries not to cooperate with the company on 5G. “Not a single country can prove this company is prone to hidden risks or security threats,” he said. “We hope countries will continue upholding an objective and unbiased position and make independent decisions that serve their national interests.” Imposing restrictions on Huawei under the “pretext” of national security concerns is “unfounded and inconsistent with international economic and trade rules,” he said. The U.K. said in July that it wasn't “strong-armed” by the U.S. into recent actions against Huawei (see 2007220026). The White House didn’t respond to questions.