Rovi has issued a robust response following Thursday’s High Court decision that ruled three of its Gemstar EPG patents to be invalid.
The developer and patent holder said it strongly disagreed with the court’s ruling over the validity of the patents and announced it would appeal. “We also intend to continue to pursue Virgin and other unlicensed companies for their infringement of our intellectual property, to join the numerous companies who have already taken licenses to our patents issued throughout the world,” said Samir Armaly, SVP, worldwide patent licensing, Rovi.
The case referred to three patents that between them covered the display of programmes in the grid format, the selection of favourite channels, and recording from the EPG to external devices.
In a lengthy ruling Justice Mann said Virgin would have been in breach of the patents, had they not found to be invalid, excluding them because their functionality was akin to that of a computer programme.
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