Gemstar a US TV listings company part owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is suing Virgin Media over 3 alleged European patent infringements. Gemstar, whose prolific past litigation record has apparently led to its former chief executive being branded a "patent terrorist" alleges infringement of three European Patents by Virgin for its use of certain Interactive Programme Guide (IPG) technology. The action comes after negotiations over patent licensing broke down. The executive Vice-President of Gemstar is quoted in the Guardian as saying:
"We have worked diligently to license Virgin Media for their distribution of various set-top boxes that contain IPGs covered by our patents, but negotiations did not lead to a resolution... While we would have preferred to reach a commercial solution with Virgin Media, we ultimately have a responsibility to our shareholders, licensees, and other stakeholders to protect the value of our intellectual property."
IPKat points out that the broad claims of the patents do seem to match what a Virgin Media set top box does and that Virgin Media's dismissal of the action as 'flagrant opportunism' and 'without merit' may be a little premature. However, IPKat also notes that "the English courts are notoriously difficult to please with infringement actions, and will certainly take a long hard look at the validity of the patents (if the proceedings ever get to that stage). As always, the devil will be in the details of what the patents can validly claim, and of course how far each side is willing to go in defending its position".
But don't hold your breath. With much of Gemstar's previous US litigation ending in settlements (eg. here and here), it's just as likely that the court may not get a chance to pick apart the patent claims.
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