Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 140 / Monday, July 26, 2021 / Notices 40077 

This is not a toll-free number. Persons 

with hearing or speech impairments 

may access this number through TTY by 

calling the toll-free Federal Relay 

Service at (800) 877–8339. 

Copies of available documents 

submitted to OMB may be obtained 

from Ms. Pollard. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice informs the public that HUD has 

submitted to OMB a request for 

approval of the information collection 

described in Section A. The Federal 

Register notice that solicited public 

comment on the information collection 

for a period of 60 days was published 

on May 10, 2021, at 88, FR 24880. 

A. Overview of Information Collection 

Title of Information Collection: 

Survey to Assess Operational Status and 

Capacity of Housing Counseling 

Agencies Due to a Disaster/National 

Emergency. 

OMB Approval Number: 2502–0615. 

OMB Expiration Date: May 31, 2021. 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Form Number: None. 

Description of the need for the 

information and proposed use: The 

Disaster/National Emergency Survey 

will assess the operational and capacity 

status of Housing Counseling Agencies 

impacted by COVID–19 and other 

disasters and national emergencies. This 

Survey is necessary to assess the impact 

of the disasters and national 

emergencies on the operation of HUDapproved housing counseling agencies. 

This survey will more accurately assess 

the current operating status and 

capacity of housing counseling agencies 

impacted by disasters or national 

emergencies. The information collected 

will be used to identify the needs of the 

housing counseling agency and to 

inform OHC about the types of support 

that would be the most responsive to the 

needs of agencies and their clients. 

Respondents: Not-for-profit 

institutions; Local, State, or Tribal 

Government. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

1,614. 

Estimated Number of Responses: 

1,614. 

Frequency of Response: 1. 

Average Hours per Response: 1. 

Total Estimated Burden: 1,614. 

B. Solicitation of Public Comment 

This notice is soliciting comments 

from members of the public and affected 

parties concerning the collection of 

information described in Section A on 

the following: 

(1) Whether the proposed collection 

of information is necessary for the 

proper performance of the functions of 

the agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) The accuracy of the agency’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information; 

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and 

(4) Ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on those 

who are to respond; including through 

the use of appropriate automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology, e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses. 

(5) ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on those 

who are to respond, including the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

HUD encourages interested parties to 

submit comment in response to these 

questions. 

C. Authority 

Section 3507 of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35. 

Colette Pollard, 

Department Reports Management Officer, 

Office of the Chief Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15773 Filed 7–23–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

COMMISSION 

[Investigation No. 337–TA–1185] 

Certain Smart Thermostats, Smart 

HVAC Systems, and Components 

Thereof; Commission Determination 

To Review in Part a Final Initial 

Determination Finding No Violation of 

Section 337 and, on Review, To Affirm 

the Finding of No Violation; 

Termination of the Investigation 

AGENCY: U.S. International Trade 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the U.S. International Trade 

Commission has determined to review 

in part a final initial determination 

(‘‘ID’’) issued by the presiding 

administrative law judge (‘‘ALJ’’) on 

April 20, 2021, finding no violation of 

section 337 in the above-referenced 

investigation and, on review, to affirm 

the finding of no violation. 

The investigation is terminated. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Liberman, Esq., Office of the 

General Counsel, U.S. International 

Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20436, telephone (202) 

708–4716. Copies of non-confidential 

documents filed in connection with this 

investigation may be viewed on the 

Commission’s electronic docket (EDIS) 

at https://edis.usitc.gov. For help 

accessing EDIS, please email 

EDIS3Help@usitc.gov. General 

information concerning the Commission 

may also be obtained by accessing its 

internet server at https://www.usitc.gov. 

Hearing-impaired persons are advised 

that information on this matter can be 

obtained by contacting the 

Commission’s TDD terminal on (202) 

205–1810. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

November 27, 2019, the Commission 

instituted this investigation under 

section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 

amended, 19 U.S.C. 1337 (‘‘section 

337’’), based on a complaint filed by 

EcoFactor, Inc. of Palo Alto, California 

(‘‘EcoFactor’’). See 84 FR 65421–22 

(Nov. 27, 2019). The complaint alleges 

a violation of section 337 based upon 

the importation into the United States, 

the sale for importation, and the sale 

within the United States after 

importation of certain smart 

thermostats, smart HVAC systems, and 

components thereof by reason of 

infringement of certain claims of U.S. 

Patent Nos. 8,131,497 (‘‘the ’497 

patent’’); 8,423,322 (‘‘the ’322 patent’’); 

8,498,753 (‘‘the ’753 patent’’); and 

10,018,371 (‘‘the ’371 patent’’). See id. 

The notice of investigation names the 

following respondents: Daikin 

Industries, Ltd. of Osaka, Japan; Daikin 

America, Inc. of Orangeburg, New York; 

and Daikin North America LLC of 

Houston, Texas (collectively, ‘‘the 

Daikin Respondents’’); Schneider 

Electric USA, Inc. of Andover, 

Massachusetts and Schneider Electric 

SE of Rueil-Malmaison, France 

(collectively, ‘‘the Schneider 

Respondents’’); ecobee Ltd. and ecobee, 

Inc., both of Toronto, Canada 

(collectively, ‘‘ecobee’’); Google LLC of 

Mountain View, California; Alarm.com 

Incorporated and Alarm.com Holdings, 

Inc. of Tysons, Virginia (collectively, 

‘‘Alarm.com’’); and Vivint, Inc. of Provo, 

Utah (‘‘Vivint’’). The Office of Unfair 

Import Investigations (‘‘OUII’’) is also a 

party to the investigation. 

On June 11, 2020, the ALJ issued an 

ID (Order No. 10) granting a joint 

motion to partially terminate the 

investigation as to the Daikin 

Respondents based on settlement. See 

Order No. 10 (June 11, 2020), 

unreviewed by Comm’n Notice (July 1, 

2020). On August 10, 2020, the ALJ 

issued an ID (Order No. 15) granting a 

joint motion to terminate the 


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40078 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 140 / Monday, July 26, 2021 / Notices 

investigation in part as to the Schneider 

Respondents based on settlement. See 

Order No. 15 (Aug. 10, 2020), 

unreviewed by Comm’n Notice (Aug. 31, 

2020). On November 27, 2020, the ALJ 

issued an ID (Order No. 27) granting an 

unopposed motion for partial 

termination of the investigation as to the 

asserted claims of the ’753 patent; the 

asserted claims of the ’322 patent and 

the ’371 patent as to ecobee; and the 

asserted claims of the ’497 patent as to 

Alarm.com. See Order No. 27, 

unreviewed by Comm’n Notice (Dec. 15, 

2021). 

On April 20, 2021, the ALJ issued the 

final ID in this investigation, holding 

that no violation of section 337 has 

occurred in the importation into the 

United States, the sale for importation, 

or the sale within the United States after 

importation, of certain smart 

thermostats, smart HVAC systems, and 

components thereof, with respect to 

asserted claims 1, 2, and 5 of patent 

’497, asserted claims 1, 2, and 5 of 

patent ’322, and asserted claim 9 of 

patent ’371. 

Concerning infringement, the ID finds 

that respondent Google indirectly 

infringes all of the asserted claims. 

Specifically, the ID finds that Google 

induces infringement of all of the 

asserted claims and contributorily 

infringes the asserted claims of the ’497 

and ’371 patents. The ID finds that 

EcoFactor has not shown that 

respondents ecobee, Vivint and 

Alarm.com infringe any of the asserted 

claims of the asserted patents. 

Regarding the domestic industry 

requirement, the ID finds that EcoFactor 

has not satisfied the technical or 

economic prongs of the domestic 

industry requirement with respect to 

any of the asserted patents. 

Concerning validity, with respect to 

the ’497 patent, the ID finds that 

asserted claims 1, 2, and 5 have not 

been shown to be patent ineligible 

under 35 U.S.C. 101, and have not been 

shown to be invalid as anticipated or 

obvious under 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103, 

respectively. The ID further finds that 

the asserted claims of the ’497 patent 

have not been shown to be invalid for 

indefiniteness under 35 U.S.C. 112, ¶ 2. 

The ID finds, however, that the asserted 

claims of the ’497 patent have been 

shown to be invalid for lack of written 

description and enablement under 35 

U.S.C. 112, ¶ 1. 

As to the ’322 patent, the ID finds that 

asserted claims 1, 2, and 5 have not 

been shown to be patent ineligible 

under 35 U.S.C. 101. The ID further 

finds that the asserted claims of the ’322 

patent have been shown to be invalid 

for lack of written description and 

enablement under 35 U.S.C. 112, ¶ 1. 

The ID also finds that the asserted 

claims of the ’322 patent have not been 

shown to be invalid for indefiniteness 

under 35 U.S.C. 112, ¶ 2. The ID finds, 

however, that claim 1 has been shown 

to be invalid as anticipated under 35 

U.S.C. 102, but that claims 2 and 5 have 

been shown to be invalid as obvious 

under 35 U.S.C. 103. 

With respect to the ’371 patent, the ID 

finds that asserted claim 9 has not been 

shown to be patent ineligible under 35 

U.S.C. 101, and has not been shown to 

be invalid under 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103. 

On May 3, 2021, EcoFactor filed a 

petition for review of various portions of 

the ID, and respondent Google filed a 

contingent review for certain aspects of 

the ID. On May 4, 2021, respondent 

ecobee filed a contingent petition for 

review of certain aspect of the ID. 

On May 11, 2021, complainant 

EcoFactor filed a response to 

Respondents’ petitions for review. Also 

on May 11, 2021, respondents ecobee, 

Vivint, and Google each filed their 

respective responses. On May 12, 2021, 

OUII filed a response to the private 

parties’ petitions. 

Having examined the record in this 

investigation, including the final ID, the 

petitions for review, and the responses 

thereto, the Commission has determined 

to review in part the ID: (1) To review 

the language supporting the ID’s 

determination that EcoFactor failed to 

satisfy the economic prong of the 

domestic industry requirement under 

subparagraphs (A) and (B), and on 

review to strike the last paragraph on 

page 560 (see ID at 560–561); (2) to 

review the ID’s findings regarding 

induced and contributory infringement, 

and on review to additionally provide 

the requisite findings that Google was 

willfully blind with respect to the 

asserted patents and thus possessed the 

requisite knowledge that its products 

infringe those patents (with the 

exception of contributory infringement 

of the ’322 patent) (see ID at 404–405, 

408–409); and (3) to review the ID’s 

conclusions of fact and law Nos. 14 and 

22 on page 576, and on review to correct 

clerical errors so that each of them reads 

as follows: ‘‘Respondents have shown, 

through clear and convincing evidence, 

that the asserted claims are invalid 

under 35 U.S.C. 112, ¶ 1, and have not 

shown, through clear and convincing 

evidence, that the asserted claims are 

invalid under 35 U.S.C. 112, ¶ 2.’’ 

The Commission has determined not 

to review the remainder of the ID, 

including the ID’s finding of no 

violation of section 337 in this 

investigation. 

The investigation is terminated. 

The Commission vote for this 

determination took place on July 20, 

2021. 

The authority for the Commission’s 

determination is contained in section 

337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 

amended (19 U.S.C. 1337), and in part 

210 of the Commission’s Rules of 

Practice and Procedure (19 CFR part 

210). 

By order of the Commission. 

Issued: July 20, 2021. 

Lisa Barton, 

Secretary to the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15857 Filed 7–23–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7020–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Antitrust Division 

Notice Pursuant to the National 

Cooperative Research and Production 

Act of 1993—Open RF Association, 

Inc. 

Notice is hereby given that, on May 

25, 2021 pursuant to Section 6(a) of the 

National Cooperative Research and 

Production Act of 1993, 15 U.S.C. 4301 

et seq. (‘‘the Act’’), Open RF 

Association, Inc. filed written 

notifications simultaneously with the 

Attorney General and the Federal Trade 

Commission disclosing changes in its 

membership. The notifications were 

filed for the purpose of invoking the 

Act’s provisions limiting the recovery of 

antitrust plaintiffs to actual damages 

under specified circumstances. 

Specifically, MixComm Inc., Chatham, 

NJ; and TMY Technology Inc., New 

Taipei City, TAIWAN have been added 

as parties to this venture. 

No other changes have been made in 

either the membership or planned 

activity of the group research project. 

Membership in this group research 

project remains open, and Open RF 

Association, Inc. intends to file 

additional written notifications 

disclosing all changes in membership. 

On February 21, 2020, Open RF 

Association, Inc. filed its original 

notification pursuant to Section 6(a) of 

the Act. The Department of Justice 

published a notice in the Federal 

Register pursuant to Section 6(b) of the 

Act on March 11, 2020 (85 FR 14247). 

The last notification was filed with 

the Department on March 11, 2021. A 

notice was published in the Federal 


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