USITC finds Comcast infringed Rovi patent

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled in favour of Rovi, a subsidiary of technology company TiVo, after it filed a patent infringement claim against Comcast.

In a notice issued yesterday, June 4, the ITC said telecommunications company Comcast had violated US law by importing and selling certain digital video receivers and related equipment in the country.

The ITC found Comcast had infringed two claims of one of Rovi’s patents (US number 7,779,011), and said a cease and desist order would be issued which will prohibit Comcast from importing the infringing products into the country.

Arvin Patel, executive vice president and chief IP officer at Rovi, said he was thrilled by the legal victory.

“This decision demonstrates Comcast's repeated infringement of Rovi’s patents. We hope that today’s decision will encourage Comcast to pay the necessary licensing fees so their customers can once again access advanced cable features.”

As reported by WIPR, Rovi first submitted its complaint against Comcast in February.

The patents that Rovi accused Comcast of infringing relate to interactive programme guides, digital storage, transport control interface, and content access. Rovi said that Comcast’s Xfinity range of TV entertainment products are among those which infringe the patents.

This is not the first time Rovi has taken legal action against Comcast. In November 2017, the ITC ruled Comcast had infringed Rovi’s patents.

It issued a “limited exclusion order” which forced Comcast to remove popular features from its products. One such feature was the ability for users to record television shows remotely, rather than being in front of the television when recording.

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