Netflix’s ‘continue watching’ feature named in patent infringement suit
Global streaming service Netflix is at the centre of a patent infringement lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the Central District of California.
The complaint, which was filed on Tuesday, December 4, by computer security company Uniloc, alleged that Netflix’s streaming service violates two patents.
According to the filing, Netflix infringes the patents, “Method of coding digital image based on error concealment” (US number 6,895,118) and “System and method for aggregating and providing audio and visual presentations via a computer network” (number 9,721,273).
The lawsuit claimed that Netflix violates the ‘273 patent by providing “content via a computer network and system”.
Uniloc’s complaint stated that its ‘273 patent “contains the concept of creating a webpage which combines a collection of presentations”. These presentations “collect and analyse data from multiple feeds to provide content more relevant to each user”.
The computer security company said that Netflix infringes this in several places on its streaming service.
One example given is the “continue watching” feature, which shows TV programmes and films that a user has started but not finished watching.
Uniloc also said that Netflix infringes the patent by storing data representing TV programmes and films belonging to a particular category that have been recommended for the user, such as “British TV shows, Emmy winning TV shows, Historical TV shows”.
Netflix also allows users to create their own list of things to watch under “My list”. The complaint described these as “collections of presentations”.
Additionally, Uniloc alleged that Netflix infringes its patents by storing “viewing data indicating the amount of time the user has watched each programme in the ‘continue watching ’”.
Uniloc is seeking triple damages and legal fees.
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