The Kudelski Group has filed a counter patent infringement lawsuit against Yahoo through its OpenTV Inc. subsidiary, alleging the foundering search and Internet media giant has improperly treaded on 10 patents through its Yahoo Smart TV, Yahoo Connected TV, Yahoo TV, Yahoo fantasy gaming businesses and the defunct Yahoo Screen.
The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California by the high-profile pay-TV vendor follows a January claim made against it by Yahoo. In that action, Yahoo claimed that it does not infringe on seven OpenTV patents. (The subscription site Law360 has a breakdown of that case here.)
The patent battle comes as Yahoo is getting ready to divest a number of non-strategic assets, to potential suitors that include Verizon (NYSE: VZ). Yahoo announced Monday that it's extending the deadline for bids until April 18.
As for Kudelski, the bell of patent lawsuits continues to troll ... er, toll.
In November, also through its OpenTV unit, Kudelski sued Verizon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The suit alleges that Verizon and its AOL subsidiary have infringed on seven U.S. patents owned by OpenTV and Nagra France in its FiOS TV, FiOS TV Everywhere, Verizon Redbox Instant and Go90 services.
The lawsuit also alleges infringements with AOL's Spot On advertising and streaming video services. Verizon recently completed its acquisition of AOL.
For more:
- read this OpenTV press release
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