A federal judge in Los Angeles has pushed up the date for his court to hear a motion by New York-based technology company Eko seeking an injunction on a fundamental technology used by new mobile-first streaming service Quibi.

According to this week’s court order, obtained by Deadline, based on a review of the plaintiffs ex parte application for an accelerated hearing date, there is “sufficient good cause” to hear the motion for preliminary injunction on May 4 instead of the originally scheduled date of June 29.

The courts in Downtown Los Angeles are currently shut down amid the COVID-19 crisis. But score this as a small legal victory just the same for Eko, which goes by the name “JBF-Interlude 2009-Israel” in legal papers.

Also read: Quibi ‘Turnstyle’ Feature Flips Over Patent Litigation

New York-based Eko, a company that creates interactive videos for entertainment and advertising applications, claims it developed and patented the phone-flipping feature that Quibi calls “Turnstyle.”

In March, Quibi preemptively filed suit first, claiming to a California federal court that, “After seeing Quibi’s keynote address at CES, Eko embarked on a campaign of threats and harassment to coerce money or a licensing deal from Quibi.”

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg conceded taking a meeting with Eko CEO Yoni Bloch in 2017, prior to creating Quibi. But he says he doesn’t remember much about that meeting, and he isn’t the kind of engineering technologists who might remember the technical details, anyway.

In a statement, Quibi said, “Our Turnstyle technology was developed internally at Quibi by our talented engineers and we have, in fact, received a patent for it. These claims have absolutely no merit and we will vigorously defend ourselves against them in court.”

In its own statement, Eko responded, “Over 10 years, Eko has contributed a multitude of patented inventions to the interactive video space. It appears that others have found significant value in incorporating our technology into their endeavors without our permission. We are hopeful for an amicable solution that rightfully recognizes our work.”

Also read: Tough First Day? Quibi Generates Only 300K App Downloads, Gets Battered by Critics

Quibi launched this week amid a disrupted market, with reviewers largely evaluating the service’s short form content—intended for viewing during busy days out and about—while stuck at home amid social distancing.

Meanwhile, the Quibi app was downloaded 300,000 times on its first day in the U.S. market, according to Sensor Tower. That’s probably a good first-day performance by most measures. But it somehow—and perhaps, unfairly—got compared to the boffo launch of Disney Plus, which had 4,000 U.S. app downloads on its first day. 

Mobile-focused streaming service Quibi is facing patent litigation over its so-called “turnstyle” feature, a core technology that enables users to quickly switch their phone from profile to landscape viewing mode, in back.

As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, New York-based Eko, a company that creates interactive videos for entertainment and advertising applications, claims it developed and patented the phone-flipping feature.

Also read: Can Quibi Build a Brand From Scratch Amid Stiff Streaming Competition?

In this case, Quibi actually filed suit first, claiming to a California federal court this week that, “After seeing Quibi’s keynote address at CES, Eko embarked on a campaign of threats and harassment to coerce money or a licensing deal from Quibi.”

Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg conceded taking a meeting with Eko CEO Yoni Bloch in 2017, prior to creating Quibi. But he says he doesn’t remember much about that meeting, and he isn’t the kind of engineering technologists who might remember the technical details, anyway.

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

In a statement provided to the Hollywood Reporter, Quibi said, “Our Turnstyle technology was developed internally at Quibi by our talented engineers and we have, in fact, received a patent for it. These claims have absolutely no merit and we will vigorously defend ourselves against them in court.”

Also read: Quibi Raises $750M in Second Round of Financing

In its own statement, Eko responded, “Over 10 years, Eko has contributed a multitude of patented inventions to the interactive video space. It appears that others have found significant value in incorporating our technology into their endeavors without our permission. We are hopeful for an amicable solution that rightfully recognizes our work.”

Privately financed with $1.75 billion, Quibi will launch April 6 with about 50 short-form series in the can (around 175 shows, comprising about 8,500 episodes have been announced). Quibi is touting big name after big name in its producer ranks. Just a few of the well-knowns revealed in its big CES presentation included Steven Spielberg, Ben Stiller, Keifer Sutherland, Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Chrissy Teigen, Lorne Michaels, Sam Raimi and Antoine Fuqua.

Turnstyle will be an interactive feature, engaging the audience to keep turning their phones from landscape to portrait and back to follow the narrative of the show they’re watching. 

TiVo is touting a U.S. Appeals Court ruling as a win in its ongoing patent battle with Comcast.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed jurisdiction for the International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban Comcast set-tops that it determines have infringed on TiVo patents.

TiVo has filed numerous lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions against Comcast dating back to 2016, trying to get the cable company to resume paying it licenses on pay TV technologies. And in this battle, TiVo has had most of its success in the confines of the ITC.

Also read: Comcast Gets Federal Circuit Win Against TiVo

In late 2017, for example, the ITC ruled that a remote recording feature included in Comcast’s X1 platform violated patents held by TiVo’s Rovi division. Comcast worked around the issue by removing the feature from the X1 platform. And the patent under dispute has since expired.

But TiVo has two more batches for patents, in two other ITC filings, that will soon be ruled on by the ITC.

“The Federal Circuit affirmed the ITC’s Final Determination and what we at TiVo have known for years—Comcast infringed Rovi’s patents and its business is subject to the ITC’s jurisdiction,” said Arvin Patel, executive VP and chief intellectual property officer at Rovi Corporation, in a statement.

“This ruling maintains the ITC’s import ban against Comcast’s set-top boxes and showcases the strength of Rovi’s battle-tested patent portfolio,” Patel added. “We understand the value of our patented technology and why Comcast has relied on it heavily since launching its X1 platform. But Comcast cannot continue to use Rovi’s patented technology without paying for a license. We are hopeful today’s announcement will encourage Comcast to put their customers first and license our IP just as the other top 9 U.S. Pay-TV providers do.”

Comcast said in a statement the ruling is irrelevant: “The Federal Circuit Court’s ruling applies to expired patents that have already been invalidated by the patent office and therefore are irrelevant to what Comcast offers customers today. Rovi is misleading the public by suggesting that there is an import ban on any Comcast X1 set-top boxes--that’s just not true.” 

TiVo has publicly stated that its strategy is a kind of war of attrition. By filing so many lawsuits, I so many places, covering so many patents, it hopes to win enough rulings to disrupt Comcast and bring the cable company to heel.

TiVo has conceded that not having the No. 1 U.S. cable company pay it licensing fees is a profound existential threat to its IP licensing business. 

Comcast won yet another ruling in a three-year-old, vastly complicated patent dispute with TiVo.

The Federal Circuit upheld an earlier ruling by the Patent Trial and Appeals Board, which declared Patent ‘696 invalid because it was, er, “obvious.”

According to the U.S. Patent Office, patent ‘696 relates to “processing a search query entered by a user of a device having a text input interface with overloaded keys.”

“We’re pleased with the ruling,” a Comcast rep said in an email to MCN.

TiVo, which is in the process of splitting its IP licensing business from its products operation, has declared Comcast’s unwillingness to pay tribute to be an existential threat to the former enterprise. Under new CEO David Shull, the tech vendor has pledged to keep filing patent disputes in an attempt to force Comcast into the position of having to disable product features.

“Over time, and it'll take time, I think they'll be at the point where they substantially start to hurt their consumer offering. And so that that's a long-term commitment for us for litigation," Shull told investment analysts over the summer.

“From my point of view, we have hundreds of patents that we believe are valid against Comcast," he added. "For better, for worse within the ITC venue, we're having to do these a few at a time. But we'll continue to do so until we get to a reasonable business conversation.”

As for Comcast, this latest win validates a legal strategy of seeking positive rulings in with the Patent Trial and Appeals board, a body that often rules against IP licensors, then having those rulings validated by federal courts. 

Updated: TiVo emailed the following statement to MCN: “We are not deterred by this decision. We will always do whatever we can to protect our patents and have confidence in the strength of our portfolio which consists of 5,500 issued patents and pending applications worldwide. We will continue to fight for TiVo’s innovations.”

TiVo said it will continue its legal battle with Comcast within the confines of its IP licensing business after that unit is separated from TiVo’s products operations.

“Our decision to separate the businesses does not change our willingness or ability to continue our litigation against Comcast. And we fully expect that they will eventually be licensed,” said Raghu Rau, interim president and CEO of TiVo.

“The separation will have no impact on the litigation with Comcast,” he added. “Our resolve is to ensure that Comcast is eventually licensed.”

Related: TiVo Formally Announces Split of Licensing and Products Businesses

Speaking to investors during TiVo’s first quarter earnings call Thursday, Rau also offered on update on the litigation with Comcast, which included a new filing with the International Trade Commission (ITC) last month.

“We filed a new ITC complaint on April 26, which was preceded by a companion district court case we filed in the Central District of California on April 22,” he said. “We are asserting that Comcast infringes on six of our patents. Three of the patents focus on various aspects of Comcast's X1 DVR capabilities, including essential local DVR functionality, AnyRoom DVR, and Cloud DVR. Two patents focus on aspects of how network data and requests for content are managed between set top boxes within a user's home, including aspects of how network data from and to remote servers is managed.

“And finally, one patent focuses on the ability to provide real-time data in an Interactive Program Guide such as Comcast's real-time sports scores feature,” Rau added. “We anticipate that the ITC case will start early in June 2019, with trial and decisions to occur in 2020.”

Apple and Qualcomm have announced a settlement to their sprawling technology licensing dispute, dropping all lawsuits against one another.

In settling the dispute, which dates back to January 2017, Apple has agreed to make an unspecified payment to Qualcomm. The companies have also forged a six-year global patent licensing agreement for Qualcomm technology, as well as the re-introduction of Qualcomm hardware—including modems—into Apple’s iPhones.

Apple had pushed back against what it said were Qualcomm’s unreasonable patent licensing demands. The San Diego tech vendor, the Silicon Valley giant said, was abusing its high level of leverage for essential wireless tech patents.

Related: Apple's Big Original TV Model Follows Not-So-Original Playbook

For Qualcomm, which makes the bulk of its revenue on patent licensing, the battle was somewhat existential. The tide turned for the company with important recent rulings against Apple in Germany and China.

Although the fight had raged for two years, the two companies only entered a U.S. courtroom this week. In fact, the settlement was reportedly announced as opening arguments were being introduced. 

ACT | The App Association President Morgan Reed said the group welcomed the agreement and the end to the legal fight. The Apple v. Qualcomm litigation has always been a distraction from the core of Qualcomm’s anticompetitive business model and the vast impact it has on companies large and small throughout the economy, from precision agriculture to autonomous cars to connected health," he said.

But he said the Federal Trade Commission "must continue fighting to ensure Qualcomm lives up to its commitments to license its standard-essential patents to any willing licensee under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms."

The association represents 5,000 app developers and device companies.

A federal judge in Florida has refused to dismiss an OTT company’s complaint that Comcast’s X1 video service infringes on a patent covering interactive programming guides.

Fort Myers, Florida-based WhereverTV Broadcasting Corp. filed suit against Comcast in August, alleging violation of U.S. Patent No. 8656431, titled “Global Interactive Application and Device.” Legal news site Law 360 reported the court’s decision this week not to toss the case.

The case, which is still in the early innings, will now move onto the discovery phase. 

“We disagree with, but respect, the court’s ruling," a Comcast rep told MCN. "It has no impact on our ability to continue offering our innovative X1 platform and streaming services to our customers, and we look forward to winning the case on the merits.”

WhereverTV is a virtual MVPD operator offering live-streamed bundles of second-tier programming networks, starting at $14.99 for a month-to-month plan.

In its lawsuit, WhereverTV accuses Comcast and a trio of subsidiary corporations of infringing on patent ‘431 through the interactive program guide in the X1 video operating system. Specifically, the suit says features that allow the X1 program guide to be controlled via multiple devices including televisions, computers or smartphones violate the patent.

Notably, WhereverTV filed its complaint in the Middle District of Florida, a court reputed to be particularly friendly to IP litigators.

“The district is highly ranked in some very important categories for plaintiffs who want to get a trial resolution as soon as possible as well as a high success rate,” said Stephen Leahu, an attorney at Brinks Gilson & Lione, told IPWatchDog last summer when the suit was filed.

Comcast is also engaged in a much broader battle with TiVo, which covers a range of X1 features and technologies, and spans multiple legal jurisdictions.

Stingray Digital Group said it has filed counter claims against Music Choice, the rival music-over-multichannel programmer that, in June, sued Stingray for patent infringement after getting dropped by AT&T U-verse in favor of Stingray Music.  

Montreal-based Stingray said it filed, on Tuesday, an answer and counterclaim against the Music Choice lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, where Music Choice filed its suit. Stingray Music USA separately filed a lawsuit against Music Choice asserting "claims of unfair competition, defamation, trade libel, tortious interference with existing and prospective contractual relationships, and unfair competition." 

“As explained in our Complaint, Music Choice has displayed a pattern of trying to stifle new market entrants with false statements and unfair commercial practices,” Eric Boyko, president, co-founder and CEO of Stingray, said in a release. “Instead of disseminating false facts and filing lawsuits, Music Choice should use its resources to innovate its offerings and improve relations with its remaining customers and suppliers.”

Stingray also said in the release that the patents Music Choice asserted were invalid partly because of "certain prior art technology previously owned by a Music Choice subsidiary (subsequently purchased by Stingray in a share purchase transaction) of which the U.S. Patent Office was unaware during the prosecution of the patents." The Stingray Music USA lawsuit will seek monetary damages "for the harm it suffered as a result of Music Choice’s attempts to damage Stingray’s reputation and exclude it from lawfully competing in the U.S. market,” according to Stingray, which has also seen its music programming expand on Comcast Xfinity this year.

Music Choice through a spokesperson said the company had "received their notice of filing and are reviewing it. No further comment at this time." The programmer, established in 1991, is owned by a partnership among subsidiaries of Microsoft, Arris, Sony Corp. of America, EMI Music Publishing, Time Warner Inc., Comcast Cable Communications, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable (now being transferred to Charter Communications, according to Music Choice).