Panasonic can continue production of consumer electronics for the global market, including pay-TV, without having to worry about a patent lawsuit from Rovi, thanks to a new deal announced by parent company TiVo Corp.
According to TiVo, the multi-year extension covers both the Japanese and worldwide markets and pertains to entertainment discovery technologies including G-Guide, G-Guide HTML and G-Guide xD.
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“Our continued collaboration with Panasonic further reinforces the need for technologies and solutions to power next-gen entertainment services while enhancing the overall user experience,” said Michael Hawkey, senior VP and general manager of user experience for TiVo. “Our innovative products help companies like Panasonic deliver seamless navigation experiences that help users find the content they want to watch no matter where they are or what device they are watching from.”
Rovi has more than 5,000 patents either issued or pending. The company made 54 percent of its revenue in 2015 from the licensing of intellectual property.
Rovi acquired TiVo for $1.1 billion earlier this year and renamed itself “TiVo Corp." Rovi filed suit against Comcast in April, alleging the cable company and its set-top suppliers had violated 14 of its patents.
According to Rovi, the patents related to numerous features in Comcast's X1 video platform, including the way Comcast implements remote recording, the "AnyRoom" DVR and search.
Comcast countered in June with a breach-of-contract suit, alleging that Rovi’s Texas-based patent suit against it violates terms of a licensing deal that requires such disputes to be handled in New York.
Comcast also told a New York federal court that Rovi breached contract terms when it took the dispute to the International Trade Commission. Additionally, the MSO argued that it had the right to use the patents through March 31 of this year.
"Comcast now brings the instant action to enforce its contractual rights and to establish its noninfringement of Rovi's patents," the complaint said