Bonum Certa Men Certa

Trolls-Connected Rovi, TiVo, Hulu and Technicolor Continue to Make Broadcast a Sordid Maze of Software Patents

Technicolor logo



Summary: With a lot of lawsuits -- some of which connected to notorious patent trolls -- it certainly seems like much of the "innovation" in the area of digital broadcast now happens in courtrooms, not laboratories

THE USPTO continues the granting of software patents. They're not worth much; in fact, many are utterly worthless as no court would take them seriously. But they're just another number under one's belt, contributing to the perception of patent might. In the coming weeks we will cover some of these patents and also mention patent battles that we lacked the time to cover earlier this summer (due to absence).



"A high proportion of key players in the patent world are basically charlatans, scammers, and Mafia-like entities which need exposing."One interesting news from earlier in the summer was the move of Deirdre Leanne from one patent troll, IP Navigation Group (IP Nav), to another, Technicolor [1, 2, 3]. IP Nav quickly became one of the world's most notorious patent trolls (if not the most fraudulent in the world), but it's now pretty much defunct as the patent/s it relied on got invalidated.

Arvin Patel, according to the same article, ended up at TiVo, whose patent aggression we wrote about as often as we covered IP Nav (dozens of times each).

"The matter of fact is, this whole territory has become so thoroughly plagued with unethical software patent lawsuits, patent trolls and mischief..."A high proportion of key players in the patent world are basically charlatans, scammers, and Mafia-like entities which need exposing. Not many sites are willing to write about these trolls because some of them, Ray Niro for instance, unmask and then attack critics in courts. It's enough to scare some people and publishers.

How about Rovi, which is connected to the world's largest patent troll, Intellectual Ventures, and is competing with TiVo? We wrote about it many times before and Bloomberg recently said that "Hulu Seeks Order It Doesn't Infringe Rovi Video Patent," noting the relevance to Alice too:

Moreover, TiVo's patents are vulnerable to legal challenges after U.S. Supreme Court's June 2014 decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l, which led to the invalidation of hundreds of software patents for covering ineligible abstract ideas...


TiVo is not just a patent bully but also somewhat of a scammer, based on this report from the end of May. Pay close attention to this:

Hulu LLC has launched a suit against Tivo in California federal court Tuesday, claiming it doesn’t need to renew an expired licensing agreement since three patents covered by the agreement are no longer applicable.

According to a report on Law 360 Hulu claims TiVo continues to assert its patents against Hulu even though they’ve expired or are no longer relevant. Also, Hulu claims TiVo has breached its own obligations under their license agreement by failing to follow through on its promises and good faith obligations and by widely publicising its licenses to Hulu’s competitors, among other things.


TiVo, according to this from four weeks ago, is now "accusing Comcast and its set-top partners Arris and Technicolor of violating a software patent..."

So we go back full circle again; back to Technicolor, which once existed as a "real" company in the area of broadcast.

The matter of fact is, this whole territory has become so thoroughly plagued with unethical software patent lawsuits, patent trolls and mischief that it seems unlikely anyone can compete in the US without getting sued from every direction.

What is more desirable? Innovation or litigation? To lawyers -- the latter.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Linux is Already Dominant (Android), Let's Make GNU/Linux Dominant in Desktops/Laptops as Well
"Dr. Stallman recently warned everybody about Microsoft."
 
Our Case is a Very Easy Win, the SLAPPs From Microsofters Were a Grave Error, and Censoring Information Won't Work (It'll Only Ever Backfire)
Censoring is what people do when they lose the argument
Say the Truth, the Rest Will Follow
There's no guarantee that writing the truth will result in an audience (or readership), but over time - in the long run - people generally gravitate towards what they know or feel to be crude truth, not just what's comforting (albeit false or self-deluding, usually groupthink dictated from above)
How to Expose High-Level Corruption Without Getting in (Too Much) Trouble
Democracy depends on free press and freedom of the press depends on being able to safely publish (and keep available) material that bad people don't want to be known to anybody
In-Depth EPO Coverage at Techrights Turns Eleven
11 years is a very long time
Windows Measured Below 10% in Afghanistan, GNU/Linux Gaining a Lot
about 80% are Android (Linux) users, compared to only about 10% for Windows
Poland's Political Predicament and Social Control Media
Democracy and fake "tech" don't mix well; the latter tends to interfere with the former and that's why we get more "Putins" out there
EPO: Taking Away From the Staff to Give More to the Rich
The Central Staff Committee (CSC) wrote to EPO staff earlier this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 03, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 03, 2025
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part I: It's a Lot Like the EPO
we can commence a series soon
Gemini Links 04/06/2025: Inescapable Questions and Quitting All "Oligarch Tech"
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linux FUD From Slopfarms, Blaming Linux for Microsoft Issues; Even WebProNews Has Become a Slopfarm (Googlebombing "Linux" With Slop Images and Fake/Plagiarised Text)
The Web is really getting bad; it's also overwhelmed by fake material or plagiarised material, wherein the plagiarism gets disguised/hidden by LLM sausage factories
Links 03/06/2025: Tiananmen Square Massacre Censorship and Growing Military Activities Around Taiwan
Links for the day
The Loyalty to Microsoft and the Salaries From Microsoft (Funding SLAPPs Against Techrights and Tux Machines)
Garrett always knows better. He knows everything best.
Windows Falls in Italy as GNU/Linux Jumps to 5%
Italy knows a thing or two about digital autonomy
Nigeria is All Android and Google
Windows down to almost nothing in Africa's largest population
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Second Wave) Not Limited to Redmond
"More layoffs at Microsoft as axe falls in Washington and California"
Gemini Links 03/06/2025: Forth System and "Common Lisp is a Dumpster"
Links for the day
The Leaks Were Right: Mass Layoffs at Microsoft in May, Then Another Wave in June
Just as we've been saying for over a month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 02, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 02, 2025
Last Article From Australia's Sam Varghese Was a Year Ago and It Covered the Release of Julian Assange, Who Will Apparently Come Back as 'Politician'
It'll soon be exactly 12 months
Hungary Seems Hungry for Linux
Windows down by a lot
Like in Europe, Bad News for Microsoft in US and Canada
If it loses those "regions", then what's left?
About 8 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft in 2025 (in Less Than 5 Months), Now Vista 11 "Market Share" Decreases
Really bad news for shareholders of Microsoft
statCounter Sees Bing "Share" Falling Over 0.5% in One Month, Now Lower Than Before the ChatGPT/Bing Chat Hype
Bing has been part of the mass layoffs for quite some time
After Microsoft's Bankruptcy in Russia Android (Linux) Will Dominate Asia Completely
Windows probably peaked in "XP" or "2000"
Microsoft's Demise is a Global Phenomenon
mass layoffs justified using mindless buzzwords
All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux in EU and the UK, All-Time Lows for Microsoft
Combining ChromeOS and GNU/Linux, it adds up to and almost reaches 6%
India: Windows Falls to 50% in Desktops/Laptops and 8% Overall
laptops/desktops fell to 16% of the whole
statCounter: GNU/Linux Up to 4.7% "Market Share" This Month
30,000 Microsoft jobs may be eliminated by year's end
Microsoft is in Trouble and Microsofters Know It
"I've been happy on Win 3.11 for years."
[Video] New Introduction to Richard Stallman's Contributions Including GNU Emacs, GNU/Linux, and Software Freedom
from the channel previously bullied for supporting RMS
Links 02/06/2025: South Korea to Vote, Russia Blitzed From Within
Links for the day
Links 02/06/2025: Political Leftovers, DRM, and Patents
Links for the day
Links 02/06/2025: Microsoft Spins Layoffs as "Slop", Frontier Settles Lawsuit
Links for the day
When You Publicly Boast About Wanting to Violently Attack People (Even Colleagues) Finding a Job Will Prove Difficult
there's a lesson to be learned here
The Web We Lost, the Information Lost Due to Microsoft's Attacks on Companies Like Yahoo! (Before the LLM Slop Frenzy)
When it comes to news sites, what can we say?
Covering Corruption in Poland, Including a War on Science (Due to Bad Politicians)
What we're about to show is that skilled and experienced scientists in Poland are besieged by bureaucrats
Gemini Links 02/06/2025: "Star Wars Day" and "Security Day"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 01, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 01, 2025