PTO PICK FACES RESISTANCE — The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on Vidal, President Joe Biden’s pick to head the PTO, at a markup Thursday. But some tech critics, including a nonprofit focused on small inventors, are urging senators to oppose her nomination because of her past work for Apple and Microsoft and her support for a board to contest established patents.

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3 (TRILLION) IS A MAGIC NUMBER — It wasn’t all that long ago — August of 2020, in the first summer of the pandemic — that the iPhone-maker’s valuation hit $2 trillion. But as The New York Times noted, Apple’s new $3 trillion valuation is equal to those of Walmart, Disney, Netflix, Nike, Exxon Mobil, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Morgan Stanley, McDonald’s, AT&T, Goldman Sachs, Boeing, IBM and Ford — combined.

That’s too big, tech critics say. “Apple’s historic market cap is just another indicator of the firm’s overwhelming market dominance. With 11 reported acquisitions in the past two years and a long track record of abusive and illegal conduct, Apple’s market power is continuing to grow,” Krista Brown of the anti-monopoly group American Economic Liberties Project said. She urged Congress to pass legislation to fix antitrust laws and “stop pro-monopoly judges from sheltering Apple from accountability.”