Rovi’s STB suit an attempt to extract royalties, Videotron says

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron will argue in Federal Court later this month that a years-long legal battle over patent infringement levelled against its set-top box products is not directed at the proper parties, including itself, according to court documents. The Montreal-based company said it is not in possession of the source code for programs running in its STB products, like its Club illico TV service, sought by Rovi Guides Inc. that is at the heart of the lawsuit. The claimed infringement timeline runs from 2011 to 2019. Digital entertainment company Rovi, which owns TiVO patents purchased in 2016 and which it claims are used in STB products, alleges that Videotron is infringing on a number of its patents by selling the STB products, and is appealing a lower court decision that found it had no evidence to compel non-party entities to hand over information related to its patents. But Videotron argues it’s not in possession of the code the American company is looking for and, in fact, doesn’t even make the boxes, which are provided by third-party companies like Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Technicolor Canada Inc. Videotron argues that Rovi’s focus on the cable company may be because it is looking for an “ongoing royalty stream based on subscriber monthly fees and not just a one-time per box payment from a manufacturer,” despite Videotron claiming it doesn’t know how the particular STBs function. In its original lawsuit, filed in 2017, Rovi was asking for a permanent ban on Videotron using its patents, as well as damages of more than $50,000. The parties head to trial on December 16 in Ottawa. Videotron also claims that the way Rovi is going about its legal action -- through open-ended discovery requests of companies who may or may not have the information it seeks -- could mean the dragging of the telecom through “potentially years to get through discovery alone,” if the appeal is allowed. “The result is that, after discovery is complete, there will be yet another stage in the litigation to prepare the matter for trial, potentially including the arranging for commission evidence and the like,” Videotron said. The telecom draws on a previous determination by a trial judge that found Rovi failed to bring evidence before the court that Technicolor was responsible for programming or designing the STBs. It raised a similar concern when it dismissed its case against Samsung. Samsung has said in a submission to the court late last month that it does not have the relevant information sought by Rovi. The American division of the South Korea-based company said in the filing that the trial judge was correct to not serve onto Samsung a letter of request to divulge any information it may have on the alleged infringed patents. The submission by Videotron, which calls Rovi’s attempt to extract information from the non-parties as a “fishing expedition,” states that Rovi did not approach some of the companies that may hold that information, including Technicolor France and Alticast. This impending trial, whose subject includes the company’s illico service, will come after Videotron recently launched a hub product called Helix, which will combine IPTV, WiFi management and smart home functionality all from one platform. California-based Rovi has for years been snaking its way in Canadian courts trying to get judgments in its favour related to patents it claims to own that are being used in the hardware sold by Videotron. Since purchasing TiVo’s patents, Rovi has aimed its crosshairs on getting some money out of the largest telecoms in the country. The company has previously filed patent claims against BCE Inc., for alleged use of its patents in its own TV products, as well as Telus Corp. -- both suits coming in early 2018. Rovi is among a breed of similar companies who bring legal actions on either side of the border to enforce patent claims. In this case, Rovi has already initiated cases in the United States, including against Comcast Corp., whose X1 IPTV boxes are used by some of the major Canadian telecoms. This isn’t the first time the country’s telecoms have been roped into an IP case involving their television services. In September, MediaTube Corp., which has for years been seeking a judgment against the TV service providers, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada against Bell in a patent case involving the telecom’s Fibe TV. In other IP cases, last month, tech and IP licensing company WiLan settled lawsuits with a number of Canadian telecoms, according to a press release. The details are private. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Rovi’s STB suit an attempt to extract royalties, Videotron says

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