A lawsuit has been filed by LG Electronics against TV Interactive (TVI) to counter the allegations made by TVI that LG is using TVI’s patented technology without permission. ZillionTV is also involved.
Let’s start from the beginning…
A couple of patents exist which relate to the technology that allows an application to autostart when a storage media is inserted into a device. The abstract of the patent describes it as follows:
“An autostart driver in the host device detects insertion of a storage media into a peripheral and automatically starts an application.”
According to XYHD this actually represents a ‘buy it now’ button on the remote control.
This patent is in the name of Peter Redford and Donald Stern according to PatentStorm.us. Peter Redford is the founder of TVI, a video on demand technology company.
He is also the founder of ZillionTV, an innovative web video start-up with a good idea that has run into some teething issues.
TVI filed a lawsuit in October 2009 apparently claiming ownership of these patents and stating the LG was using the technology without permission.
LG claims ZillionTV owns Patent
WebTVWire has obtained a civil complaint that was filed December 08, 2009, where LG contests that ZillionTV is in fact the owner of the patent, so TVI has no right to sue them. It states:
“According to the records of the U.S Patent Office, ZillionTV, not TVI, is the owner of the ‘863 and ‘532 patents.”
The complaint goes on to state that LG is in fact not infringed the patents at all, so presumably ZillionTV nor TVI have any right to sue LG, as the claims are invalid under U.S patent laws.
Bad News for ZillionTV
It has been asserted that if ZillionTV & TVI loses they will be forced to pay “legal fees incurred by LG, Panasonic, Sharp, Pioneer and others who were paying royalties to TVI”.
Whether the costs incurred will have to be paid by TVI or ZillionTV I am not sure.
ZillionTV is also being sued for not paying royalties for images they use in its GUI which indicates they may be cash strapped. Start-ups are typically short on cash and an expensive lawsuit could kill the company before it gets off the ground.
