Alphabet secures video-streaming patent win
A Texas jury has confirmed that Alphabet’s Google is not infringing four patents related to adaptive video streaming.
The jury, in a verdict handed down on Friday, November 6 at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, confirmed that Google didn’t infringe four patents owned by Texas-based Personalized Media Communications (PMC).
In March last year, PMC accused Google of infringing through its services, including YouTube and its content delivery network.
“PMC’s inventors created a visionary portfolio of IP that covers a whole system of related technologies,” said the suit. PMC added that its patent-protected technology makes “content more relevant, more secure, and more reliable”.
According to the Texas-based company, Sony, Motorola, Panasonic, Fox, Cisco and Samsung have all taken licences to its technology. PMC also claimed that it had begun negotiating a patent licence with Google ten years ago.
“Since that time, PMC and Google engaged in protracted efforts to discuss Google’s infringement of and a possible license to Google of PMC’s patents,” added the suit.
In its response, filed in late July this year, Google denied the allegations and claimed that the patents were invalid.
Google’s success before the Texas court was not mirrored before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) last week.
The board concluded that it would not reverse five of its earlier decisions denying Google’s petitions to invalidate claims of PMC’s patents.
“We determine [the] petitioner has failed to demonstrate error or an abuse of discretion in our decision to deny institution,” said the PTAB.
However, Google has managed to secure a trial in two inter partes reviews against PMC before the board in October this year.
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