IT IS TURNING out to be a long intermission. Cinemas across the West closed in March and, despite attempts to reopen in the summer, the box office has not recovered. From October 9th Cineworld, the world’s second-largest chain, will temporarily shut its 536 Regal theatres in America and its 127 British outlets. AMC, the biggest, will cut the opening hours at some Odeon cinemas in Britain.
Early in the pandemic the problem was audiences. In March Disney’s “Onward” flopped as people refused to breathe recirculated air with a crowd of strangers. Business got harder when governments ordered theatres to shut, or imposed profit-crushing closures of refreshment counters and caps on capacity.

As countries have eased restrictions and audiences prepared to return, cinemas are finding little to show them. In China, where covid-19 seems under control, studios have resumed pumping out hits. But Hollywood will not risk premiering costly blockbusters while many markets, including New York and California, remain closed, and cinema-goers wary. Most big titles have been postponed (see chart). The last straw for Cineworld was the decision on October 2nd by MGM and Universal Pictures to delay “No Time to Die”, James Bond’s latest caper, from November until April 2021. No big release is planned until Christmas Day, when Warner Bros’ “Wonder Woman 1984” will ride to the rescue.

She may be too late. Attendance was declining before covid-19. To distinguish a night at the movies from a night with Netflix, cinemas built snazzy multiplexes with waiters ferrying burgers to viewers lolling in reclining seats. This helped rack up debt: AMC’s $10bn-worth was more than six times last year’s gross operating profit. Cineworld’s ratio was almost as high.
Nine months without revenues from big releases would be disastrous. America’s National Association of Theatre Owners predicts that seven out of ten small or medium-sized cinema companies will go bust without a bail-out, which it has urged Congress to grant. Both AMC and Cineworld are likely to default or file for bankruptcy, believes Moody’s, a ratings agency;AMC could run out of cash by January. Share prices of Western operators have slumped this year, and are now worth a fifth as much as five years ago. (Chinese ones have done better.)

Cinema bosses have urged studios to keep the films coming. Eric Wold of B. Riley, an investment bank, says Hollywood may need to “take a hit to feed the industry” and keep it from “completely falling apart”. Warner Bros took one by releasing “Tenet” in the summer; with takings of just $45m at the American box office, the sci-fi thriller may not break even. And studios cannot afford charity. Disney recently laid off 28,000 workers from its covid-hit theme parks.
One day the blockbusters will return. Even then, cinemas will have to defer investments, raise prices and close branches to shore up their balance-sheets—just as viewers have more reasons than ever to stay home. The average American household subscribes to four streaming services, reckons Deloitte, a consultancy. Film studios are bargaining down how long films are shown exclusively in theatres; AMC recently let Universal put future releases online after just three weekends in cinemas, in return for a share of the takings. Even if covid-19 doesn’t smash it entirely, the big screen is likely to get a lot smaller.■
Editor’s note: Some of our covid-19 coverage is free for readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. For more stories and our pandemic tracker, see our hub
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Curtains” More

Masks are required indoors in Provincetown, MA on August 06, 2021.Craig F. Walker | Boston Globe | Getty ImagesThe delta Covid variant has spread so rapidly across the U.S. that most counties in the country now meet the CDC’s guidelines recommending people wear masks indoors — whether they are vaccinated or not.”We continue to see cases, hospitalizations and deaths increase across the country. And now, over 90% of counties in the United States are experiencing substantial or high transmission,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters at a briefing Thursday. “As we have been saying, by far, those at highest risk remain people who have not yet been vaccinated.”The CDC updated its mask guidance on July 27 to recommend masks indoors in areas of the U.S. where community transmission was considered high or substantial. Most counties that were experiencing high transmission rates were in Southern states, but in two weeks the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant expanded to most counties across the country.The CDC recorded 132,384 new cases of Covid on Wednesday, reaching a seven-day average of about 113,000 cases per day, jumping almost 24% from the prior week, she said. Hospital admissions have similarly climbed by about 31% over the previous week to about 9,700 per day.Unvaccinated Americans make up the overwhelming majority of hospitalizations and deaths across the country, she said.Several large institutions in both the public and private sector have mandated vaccines or require weekly Covid testing to prevent further spread of the virus. President Joe Biden recently met with private-sector leaders to encourage vaccine or testing mandates.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:CDC says over 90% of U.S. counties now meet its Covid guidelines for indoor masksHere’s why herd immunity from Covid is ‘mythical’ with the delta variantCalifornia teachers and school staff required to prove vaccination or get weekly Covid testsFlorida hospitals are overrun as state fights one of the worst Covid outbreaks in the U.S.”Vaccination requirements are gaining momentum across the country and are already covering tens of millions of workers, educators, college and university students and health-care providers,” White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients said at the briefing. “They will help keep communities safe and stop the spread of the virus.”Several cities with high vaccination rates have also mandated vaccination for indoor activities at such places as restaurants, bars and gyms to prevent further spread of the delta variant. New York City will require at least one dose of a vaccine for indoor activities, and San Francisco will require full vaccination with a two-dose regimen or one dose of a single-dose regimen vaccine. Zients said some 700 colleges and universities have instituted vaccine mandates across the country.In the hardest-hit states, vaccination rates are climbing as residents take precautions against the spread of the delta variant, he said. The average number of daily shots tripled in Arkansas and quadrupled in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi over the past month, Zients said.The CDC also reinforced its vaccine guidance for pregnant people on Wednesday, reiterating that the vaccine is safe for those who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Walensky cited new data that “did not find any safety concerns for pregnant people who are vaccinated late in pregnancy, or for their babies,” she said.”Ending this pandemic requires every American to do their part. So, please, if you’re unvaccinated, get your shot … it’s never been more important,” Zients said.TVWATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APPUP NEXT | More

A Beverly Hills surgeon is suing Medtronic claiming patent infringement of her hernia repair mesh product.
It’s the latest in a series of patent challenges against Medtronic.
In a statement to CNBC, a spokesperson for Medtronic said the company “has a long history of respecting the intellectual property rights of other innovators.”

Michael Siluk | Education Images | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Dr. Shirin Towfigh thought she had designed a medical device that would revolutionize hernia care for women. Now, Towfigh is suing Medtronic, a global leader in medical devices, accusing the company of stealing her patented design. 
A Beverly Hills surgeon with over 22 years of experience, Towfigh says she discovered that a significant number of her hernia patients experiencing post-surgery complications were women — and that most mesh designs on the market were primarily tailored to the male anatomy.

In 2016, she filed for an international patent to protect a new design aimed at improving outcomes for patients.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware on Tuesday, the latest in a series of patent challenges against Medtronic, Towfigh accuses the medical device company of stealing her design after the parties met in 2015 and signed a mutual non-disclosure agreement. In 2016, Towfigh says she visited Medtronic’s manufacturing site in France to discuss a potential collaboration and her patent-pending product.
In May 2017, Medtronic filed its own hernia mesh patent for a product that Towfigh says closely resembles her design.  
“I expected a publicly traded company to have a more ethical approach about it, and that’s not what I experienced,” Towfigh said in an interview with CNBC.  

Arrows pointing outwards

Towfigh’s patented mesh designs.
U.S. District Court in Delaware

Towfigh is suing for damages of an undetermined amount.

A spokesperson for Medtronic said in a statement to CNBC that the company is reviewing Towfigh’s complaint.
“Medtronic believes in its innovation and has a long history of respecting the intellectual property rights of other innovators,” the spokesperson wrote.
Towfigh says she followed up multiple times with Medtronic over the course of several years but made little progress. In a 2019 email exchange cited in the lawsuit, Towfigh expressed concern that Medtronic’s new mesh design “so exactly mirrored” her pending patent. A company representative responded to Towfigh saying Medtronic was “not going in the path of what you described to us in your patent.”
Towfigh says upon raising her concerns further, Medtronic offered her a job as chief medical officer of the company’s hernia division, which she declined.
In 2020, a local Medtronic sales representative approached her with a pre-market sample of the company’s new hernia mesh product. Towfigh described the product as nearly identical to her own patent-pending design. 
“I couldn’t speak,” Towfigh told CNBC. “I saw the actual product in my hands for the very first time and I just went pale.” 

The pre-market sample of Medtronic’s hernia mesh product.
Source: U.S. District Court in Delaware

In October 2019, Towfigh’s international patent was approved. In May 2020, Medtronic launched its new hernia mesh product, Dextile.
The lawsuit is not the first time Medtronic has faced allegations of patent infringement. In 2014, the company was sued by Dr. Mark Barry, alleging that Medtronic violated two of his patents intended to correct spinal issues. A federal judge found that Medtronic “recklessly copied” Barry’s technology and awarded him $23.5 million. 
The same year, Medtronic agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle patent litigation with Edwards Lifesciences over allegations that Medtronic’s CoreValve product infringed on its transcatheter heart valve patent. 
Most recently, in 2020, Colibri Heart Valve sued Medtronic, alleging the company’s devices violated its patent related to heart valve replacement for patients with cardiac conditions. Medtronic was ordered to pay $106.5 million. 
— CNBC’s Scott Zamost and Agne Tolockaite contributed to this report. More

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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday said that investors shouldn’t expect the Federal Reserve to go easy on the economy because the market is suffering.
“Investors have to learn that the Fed is not your friend, it’s not your pal — if anything, it’s your enemy,” he said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday said that investors shouldn’t expect the Federal Reserve to go easy on the economy because the market is suffering.
“Investors have to learn that the Fed is not your friend, it’s not your pal — if anything, it’s your enemy, at least until [Chair] Jay Powell finally beats inflation,” he said.

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Stocks fell on Thursday after fresh data showed November retail sales fell more than expected.
Also dragging the market down were hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. Powell signaled at the central bank’s post-meeting news conference that rate hikes will continue through next year.
“Powell could not have been more clear that … he’s not just trying to stabilize prices at these levels, he wants to roll back the price increases from the last couple of years,” Cramer said.
He reminded investors that the central bank’s main mission is to tamp down inflation and that it plans to increase rates until prices are down significantly.
Adding to the unlikelihood of the Fed pivoting anytime soon is its lack of sympathy for investors’ struggles, according to Cramer.

“While [Powell’s] not explicitly trying to send stocks lower, he’s certainly not going to shed any tears over it. If anything, lower stock prices are a win for the Fed,” he said.

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