PVR Wire

1. Let us remember that Gemstar also formerly sued TiVo over the same thing. Both sides settled, and Gemstar ended up with an equity stake in TiVo and us TiVo subscribers/owners started receiving TV Guide branded programming guides, not to mention TV Guide promotional programming.

Posted at 5:09PM on Oct 19th 2006 by The Jeremy

2. Digeo has made the following public statement about the suit:

According to press reports on Friday, Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Digeo, Inc. Digeo has not seen a copy of the complaint and, therefore, cannot comment on it.

Gemstar’s lawsuit is an apparent reaction to the federal antitrust lawsuit that Digeo filed against Gemstar in Seattle, Washington on September 28. Digeo’s lawsuit seeks injunctive relief and damages caused by Gemstar’s anticompetitive business and licensing practices and by Gemstar’s ongoing monopolization and attempted monopolization of relevant markets through exclusionary and unlawful acts. Digeo contends that Gemstar’s anticompetitive practices, including its demands that Digeo accede to unlawful licensing terms, have caused injury to competition, consumers and innovation related to interactive program guides.

Digeo disagrees with a reported statement by a Gemstar executive claiming that Gemstar’s lawsuit was the result of Digeo’s alleged refusal to negotiate. It was Gemstar that demanded anticompetitive licensing terms and refused to provide meaningful options to Digeo. Gemstar’s licensing demands to Digeo only reinforce the legitimacy of Digeo’s allegations in its federal antitrust lawsuit against Gemstar.

Posted at 6:44PM on Oct 19th 2006 by Gerry Van Zandt

3. This is ridiculous. Digeo specifically did not include a "grid" in their guide because of Gemstar's patent. The Moxi guide looks nothing like Gemstar's products . . . it's a very unique interface. I would hope Digeo lets this get to court so we can have some kind of precedent (hopefully against) all these software patent suits.

Posted at 11:51AM on Oct 20th 2006 by Joe Caparula