Updated: See Below: Acacia Media Technologies, which holds a controversial patent on transmission and receipt of digital content, is now going after the cable and satellite companies, following its “success” with online media companies.
It has filed a complaint in the District Court for the Northern District of California alleging infringement of Acacia’s DMT patents against 9 cable and satellite companies. Companies named as defendants in the lawsuit include Comcast , Charter, DirectTV, Echostar, Boulder Ridge Cable TV, Central Valley Cable TV, Seren Innovations, Cox and Hospitality Network.
The company got emboldened to take this step after last week, when it announced the settlement of a patent infringement lawsuit against On Command Corporation, an in-room digital content provider to the lodging industry via systems similar to those utilized by cable and satellite companies.
The latest lawsuit argues that its patents apply to a variety of programming and activities engaged in by cable and satellite companies including certain basic programming, pay per view, video on demand, and digital ad insertion.
Update:
–Dedicated section: check out all the news on Acacia patent in the dedicated section.
– About 120 companies, including some big name mainstream ones, have signed patent licensing agreements for–what it calls its Digital Media Transmission (DMT) technology–including CinemaNow, Disney, T. Rowe Price, and Virgin Radio. I estimated Acacia’s revenues from this patent, extrapolating out of its Q1 revenues from the patent. The license fee revenues for the first quarter of 2004 were $599,000 versus $6,000 in the comparable 2003 period…(a simple calculation comes out to $5,000 per company per quarter, though that may not necessarily be accurate).
– News.com: Tuesday’s lawsuits do not represent the breakdown of discussions with those companies, Acacia said. “Litigation in many of these patent disputes is just another step along the way in the process,” said Rob Berman, Acacia’s general counsel. “Some companies prefer the cover of litigation before entering into license agreements.”
– AP: Acacia is seeking licensing fees of $1.25 per home per year for cable subscribers to video-on-demand services; $1 per home per year for digital cable subscribers and 50 cents per home per year for analog cable subscribers. Analysts estimate the fees could bring in at least $100 million a year.
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