Netflix doesn’t infringe Rovi patents
June 11, 2013
Movie streaming service Netflix does not infringe on Rovi patents for interactive television programme guides, an International Trade Commission judge said in a preliminary decision.
The full commission plans to issue a final decision in the case in October.
Last year, Rovi accused several companies of infringing on its patents for on-screen guides for TV listings. LG Electronics and its subsidiaries settled with Rovi, as did Mitsubishi and its subsidiaries.
Netflix had been accused of infringing on four Rovi patents but was found innocent in all cases.
At the same time, US consumer electronics company Roku, founded in 2008 to stream Netflix videos, was found innocent of infringing on one Rovi patent.
ITC Judge David Shaw declared one of the Rovi patents invalid but said the other three were valid.
In a statement, Rovi noted the finding of validity for three patents.
“We are pleased that the majority of the patents involved were confirmed valid,” Samir Armaly, a Rovi executive VP of worldwide intellectual property, said in the statement. “We will continue to seek to license companies to the technologies that we’ve developed and to protect our intellectual property from unlicensed use.”
Netflix said only that it was “pleased with the initial determination and look(s) forward to the full commission confirming it.”