On September 26, LG Electronics USA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs John I. Taylor shared with the FCC a company decision to suspend the inclusion of ATSC 3.0-compatibility in its 2024 television lineup for the United States because of a patent dispute.
Now the NAB is chiming in, and wants the FCC to stay out of the fray.
In an ex parte filing submitted with the Commission, the NAB via its legal team led by Rick Kaplan (pictured, top left) make it clear that “no party,” nor the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in GN Docket No. 16-142 “has identified any statutory authority for Commission regulation of patent licensing.”
As the NAB sees it, “it is unclear how the Commission could plausibly purport to regulate every entity claiming to hold a standard essential patent.” In fact, Kaplan and his legal team state, ” The only development of note in the record, LG’s decision with respect to its 2024 television lineup, does not suggest there is a widespread issue with the availability of consumer equipment that Commission action, if authorized, would help to solve.”
As such, the NAB is urging the FCC to take no further action at this time with respect to the patent marketplace. Instead, it seeks to have the Commission monitor the market
consistent with its approach in the digital TV transition.
“LG’s decision to pause inclusion of ATSC 3.0 compatible receivers in its 2024 television lineup should be viewed as an unfortunate data point in a marketplace that is still in
the process of developing, not as an invitation to unprecedented and overbroad Commission regulation,” the NAB states. “Indeed, with respect to the specific issue described in LG’s comments, it is entirely unclear how Commission action could plausibly be helpful.”
As such, the NAB urges the Commission to continue to look for opportunities to speed the deployment of ATSC 3.0 service and the adoption of 3.0 equipment, including by allowing broadcasters greater ability to differentiate their service during the transition.
