Hulu LLC has launched a suit against Tivo in California federal court Tuesday, claiming it doesn’t need to renew an expired licensing agreement since three patents covered by the agreement are no longer applicable.
According to a report on Law 360 Hulu claims TiVo continues to assert its patents against Hulu even though they’ve expired or are no longer relevant. Also, Hulu claims TiVo has breached its own obligations under their license agreement by failing to follow through on its promises and good faith obligations and by widely publicising its licenses to Hulu’s competitors, among other things.
“TiVo’s failure to recognise the drastic change in circumstances and its apparent breach of the parties’ prior agreement has left Hulu with no choice but to seek relief from this court,” the suit said.
Despite the circumstances, TiVo sent Hulu a notice in March that said it must renew its license. “Since the parties signed that agreement, circumstances have changed such that Hulu doubts the applicability of the TiVo Defendants’ patents to Hulu, the validity of patents, and the market value of a license to the portfolio.”
The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patent Nos. 7,769,775; 6,396,546; and 7,103,906. Rovi was renamed Tivo after it acquired the company in September 2016.
