Advanced Television

Rovi v Virgin patent appeal rejected

July 27, 2015

The UK Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal of one of the patent cases brought by Rovi against Virgin Media.  The Court comprehensively dismissed Rovi’s claims.

Rovi originally sued Virgin Media in the High Court in relation to a patent centred on the ability to pause-and-resume on-demand TV programmes on different devices. The High Court judge, Mr John Baldwin QC, found Rovi’s claim to be invalid and revoked the patent in its entirety. Rovi proceeded to appeal the High Court’s decision to revoke the patent.

The Court of Appeal has now upheld the High Court’s decision, rejected Rovi’s appeal in its entirety and again ordered Rovi to reimburse Virgin Media’s legal costs. The patent will now be revoked.

The Court of Appeal decision comes after a run of eleven consecutive defeats for Rovi in which eleven out of eleven patents asserted against Virgin Media have now either been found invalid or revoked by either the English Court or by the European Patent Office (EPO).

Brigitte Trafford, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Virgin Media, commented:  “Virgin Media’s staunch defence of Rovi’s meritless patent claims has been vindicated by the High Court and the Court of Appeal. This latest victory in the Court of Appeal follows eleven defeats out of eleven for Rovi, and upholds our position regarding Rovi patents over the last seven years. One Rovi appeal remains and we are confident that it will be rejected by the court.”

Categories: Articles, Policy, Regulation