WCA September 2007

From the americas

The issue ruled on by the ITC is not the sole patent dispute between Qualcomm and Broadcom. In late May, in US District Court in Santa Ana, California, a jury found for Broadcom on its claim that Qualcomm had infringed three other patents. The technology covered in those patents includes methods for transmission of high-speed data over mobile phones. Other news of patents . . . The US Supreme Court has made it more difficult to obtain a patent, to the future benefit of technology companies and others that are often accused of infringing on the patents of others. In a decision that could have far-reaching implications for rights in intellectual property, the justices on 30 th April unanimously ruled that the prevailing test for whether an invention is ‘obvious’ – and thus not patentable – was too rigid. Last year, the nation’s highest court granted patent infringers more manoeuvrability against injunctions, and this recent decision suggests a growing trend in favour of frequently targeted companies. Critics of the new, fairly high standard for patentability claim that, without the assurance of a protective patent, investors would be deterred from funding new products. US patent law is, of course, applicable only within US borders. ❖ ❖ The US Small Business Administration has helped many fledgling enterprises get started. But recent policy changes and severe budget and staffing cuts are impacting the mission of the SBA to the nation’s 25 million small companies, defined as businesses with 500 or fewer workers. Since 2001, the agency’s budget has been sliced nearly in half, to $464 million in the proposed federal budget for 2008. Cuts in personnel have also been deep, with the agency having lost 31% of its staff. The SBA, established by Congress in 1953 to ‘aid, counsel, assist, and protect’ the interests of small business concerns, has eased the way for some 20 million of them, and its portfolio of loans makes it the largest single financial backer of businesses in the country. It has weathered threats to its existence and an effort by the administration of President George W Bush to end its loan programme. But recent economies implemented by the agency are looking to some small-business advocates like death by a thousand cuts. A case in point is the SBA primary loan programme, known as 7(a), for which the agency has cut funding and restored a higher fee structure. For a loan up to $150,000 a borrower must now pay a minimum of $2,000 (previously $1,000) in upfront fees. For a loan up to $700,000 the fee has gone from 2.5% to 3%; for loans above $700,000 it remains unchanged at 3.5%. The SBA has also proposed raising fees in its micro-loan programme for construction and expansion of facilities. Business The Small Business Administration passes on the pain to its clients

Despite the cheese-paring that has been imposed on it, the SBA notes that its loans still have easier credit terms and longer repayment periods than those typically offered by commercial banks. But critics say this rationale obscures an unacceptable broadening of the definition of small business. They argue that the agency was founded for worthy entrepreneurs who may struggle to meet even the cost of a filing fee. The higher rates may be having one especially undesirable effect: diverting borrowers to credit card companies that pitch to small-business owners, and charge them interest rates as much as 10 percentage points higher than those for SBA or other bank loans. The results of a national survey published 24 th April by the National Small Business Association, a private advocacy group, disclosed that credit cards are a primary source of business funding for 44% of respondents. The Washington-based NSBA, with a membership of more than 150,000 small businesses, found that some 71% of credit-card use for capital needs entails a balance carried month-to-month, and more of these accounts (71%) carry a balance now than in 2000 (64%). In brief . . . According to the Communications Workers of America, the US falls well behind some other countries in terms of how fast data can be moved through the Internet. The median Internet speed in the US is 1.97 megabits per second (mbps). The leader, Japan, offers users 61 mbps at the same price as US service. At least four other countries also have faster Internet connections than the US – and there may be more. As reported by James S Granelli of the Los Angeles Times (25 th June), the communications union advocates measures to improve access by Americans to faster broadband connections for business, educational, and medical purposes. Its report, which relied on the responses of 80,000 Internet users, cited these speeds: South Korea, 45.6 mbps; Finland, 21.7 mbps; Sweden, 18.2 mbps; and Canada, 7.6 mbps. In the US, Rhode Island had the fastest median speed, at 5 mbps; Alaska the slowest, at 545 kilobits per second. While the median Internet speed in California is, at 1.52 mbps, even slower than the national average, the big state led by Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger is out ahead of the pack in ‘smart metering,’ by which power companies induce customers to voluntarily cut back on consumption during times of peak demand. Recording electricity usage at frequent intervals, a smart meter lets the consumer see the cost of power at particular times and adjust use accordingly. California is the leader in installations of these energy- efficient devices in homes. Within the last year, state regulators have approved smart meter programmes for Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric, an affiliate of Sempra Energy. Southern California Edison is also awaiting approval from California regulators for a new technology that will allow remote activation of smart meters. ❖ ❖

Dorothy Fabian – Features Editor

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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2007