Case Filed: Jun 11, 2013
Case Closed: Aug 26, 2013
Court: Texas Eastern District
Court
Judge: Leonard Davis
Case Summary:
Guardian Media filed a patent
infringement suit against Microsoft alleging violation of 2 patents for a
digital classification control system. The patents involved in the suit were:
·
US4930158, entitled Selective video playing
system
·
US4930160, entitled Automatic censorship of
video programs
Both the patents were issued on
May 29, 1990 and expired[i]
by Sep 02, 2007 and were last assigned[ii]
to Guardian Media (source: MaxVal’s Assignment
Database). The company claims that its patents cover technology that give
parents control over what their children watch on digital video recorders,
personal computers and other devices. The complaint argued that Microsoft
infringed the patents by manufacturing products/services with parental control
features as claimed in the ‘158 and ‘160 patents and cited Xbox 360 with the
Xbox Live Marketplace, Xbox 360 with Windows Media Extender/Windows Media
Center and/or computers running Windows Media Center, Xbox 360 with the Xbox
360 HD DVD Player, Windows Media Center and/or computers running Windows Media
Center as accused products or services. Guardian Media sought the Court for
relief including a judgment that one or both of the patents-in-suit have been
infringed, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, as well as
damages for willful infringement.
The parties have settled the case
and reached an agreement. Upon their requests for dismissal, the Court ordered
Dismissal with Prejudice of all claims and counterclaims subject to the terms
of settlement. Further details of the settlement were not disclosed. Each party
will bear their own costs and attorneys' fees.
See 6:13-cv-00482 for more details. To get alerts on
cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.
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[i]
Expected expiration date. Patent
Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent
terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents
[ii]
MaxVal offers Patent Assignment
Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating
to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.
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