Court dismisses eighth Rovi patent claim against Virgin Media

An eighth patent claim by Rovi against Virgin Media, related to pausing and resuming programming, has been dismissed by the UK’s High Court today.  

The claim centred around pausing and restarting live and on-demand programming on set-top boxes, with Rovi claiming that Virgin Media TiVo’s ability to pause a programme on one set-top box and resume it on another infringed some aspects of a Rovi patent.

Judge John Baldwin QC rejected the claim, finding Rovi’s patent to be invalid, and ordered Rovi to reimburse Virgin Media for its legal costs.

The ruling marks the eight patent claim to be found invalid that has been brought by Rovi, according to Marks & Clerk Solicitors, which represented Virgin Media and TiVo.

“In addition to the invalidation of eight patents in the High Court, Virgin Media has also opposed around 40 Rovi patents at the European Patent Office, resulting in a further six being found invalid so far,” said Will Cook, lead partner of the Virgin Media team at Marks & Clerk.