Court news II: Cablevision, Verizon brace for showdown

Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) effort to block Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC) from importing three advanced Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) set-tops is headed to court. A U.S. International Trade Commission said that Cablevision failed to provide "good cause" to dismiss Verizon's claims "in lieu of a trial of all issues on the merits."

ITC will hold a six-day hearing Jan. 24 and issue a final decision by August. In simplistic terms, Verizon maintains that several of Cablevision's advanced products violate Verizon patents, including Optimum Autos, Optimum Homes, MSG Varsity and Quick View.

ActiveVideo, which has been called out in the case by Verizon, along with Zodiac Interactive, Cisco and Samsung, built the Quick View channels and supplies technology for MSG Varsity. Zodiac supplies technology for Cablevision's remote storage DVR and interactive TV applications.

For more:
- see this story

Related articles:
Verizon sues Cablevision over set-top box patents
ActiveVideo sues Verizon over interactive TV patents