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13 July 2017Patents

Federal Circuit backs Apple, Samsung and Google over anti-piracy software

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has issued two non-precedential rulings that have cleared Apple, Samsung and Google from patent infringement.

It comes after ContentGuard, a digital rights management (DRM) company, sued the tech companies for patent infringement over their use of DRM software in computers and other devices.

DRM schemes involve various access control techniques that aim to prevent devices from accessing unauthorised copyright online, such as illegal streaming websites.

ContentGuard claimed US patent numbers 6,963,859; 7,823,072; 8,370,956; 8,393,007; and 8,001,053 were all infringed by the tech companies. Apple was sued individually, while ContentGuard included Samsung and Google in the same suit.

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas had rejected the lawsuits, including requests for damages and injunctive relief, and ContentGuard then appealed.

It argued that the Texas court construed the meaning of the claim “usage rights”, which was at the centre of both cases, too narrowly.

District Judge Evan Wallach, who rejected the appeals, said: “ContentGuard conditions its infringement arguments upon its claim construction argument.”

He concluded: “We have considered the parties’ remaining arguments concerning infringement and find them unpersuasive.”

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