Toshiba Sues Over DVD Patents 131
angry tapir writes "Toshiba has filed suit in a US court against Imation and several manufacturers and distributors of recordable DVD media for the alleged infringement of its patents. Imation and the other defendant companies named in the complaint do not have license agreements covering recordable DVD media with Toshiba or the DVD6C Licensing Group (DVD6C), and have engaged in the import and sale of recordable DVD media in the US without permission, according to Toshiba."
Figures (Score:2, Interesting)
Memorex make some of the better DVDRs I've used in the UK. I presume they sell the same ones in the USA.
Toshiba, OTOH, sell expensive ones that don't seem to last quite so long.
I presume therefore that it is cheaper to file a lawsuit in the US these days than it is to invest in R&D.
Ironic.. (Score:1, Interesting)
I wonder (Score:3, Interesting)
When are we going to get "open" disc formats, like an "open" HD optical disc? It would seem to me that something of that nature would help drive down the cost of this type of media.
Or am I being stupid again?
Re:Which patents? (Score:4, Interesting)
In that case, I suppose the obvious retort will be that the patents were not available "on a non-exclusive basis to interested third-party licensees pursuant to separate negotiations on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms [usdoj.gov]"
Or maybe they just pay up :)
Re:hmph (Score:5, Interesting)
While licensing consortia look at first glance to be Evil(tm), they actually do serve an important function. Many technologies are covered by several, perhaps dozens, of patents. Trying to negotiate individually with each company for licensing terms would be a legal and logistical nightmare - especially considering that if you miss one, you're screwed. Negotiating with a licensing consortium means that you only have to go through the licensing steps once, and you're covered for the duration of your license against all of the various patents covering the technology.
Yes, you still have to be careful inasmuch as some company may have decided not to get on board the consortium train, but the chances of this happening are reduced.
The true evil arises when licensing consortia impose "terms of use" on their licenses, such as by leveraging patents to enforce DRM restrictions on equipment manufacturers (DVD-CSS, AACS, HDMI, CableCARD, etc.).
Re:I wonder (Score:4, Interesting)
Three words: N D A (Score:1, Interesting)
As it is, you can show them your stuff, they say "Hey, that looks like it infringes on several of our patents. We'll sue you if you don't cross license".
And you're then just as butt-fucked as in your case.
An NDA and *NO* patents is far more secure.
Re:Laches (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, he was sort of right...
Though there's no Statuate of Limitations on patent infringement, but most states limit the scope of infringement to 6 years, regardless of the length of infringement, and in certain circumstances, damages awarded have been adjusted by the judge when the first party was clearly fully aware of the infringement.
Basically, We ALL know Memorex maxes blank DVDs... Toshiba should have easily kown this. No that memorex made a few billion selling disks, Toshiba want's it;s cut, and likely use a huge settlement to allow them to begotiate good terms on another patent they can't currently get memorex to license to them. However, if the judge knows this is the case, and knows that 5.5 years ago Toshiba could have brought this up, and memorex could simply have been forced to license the patent at a small cost then or abandon their sales, in which case Toshiba would not have their current claim. Thair fialure to file earlier could only reasonably be offset by proving it was not in their business interest to do so due to cost vs reward, but if by now cost vs reward is suddently justified, Laches might apply in addition to limitations on compensation.
It could indeed be very bad for toshiba, especially since MULTIPLE conpoeitors were in clear violation of the patent. it could even go back to the PTO to show that DVD was just a natural evolution of CD and their patent could be thrown out (though, that could also invalidate Blue-ray's patent too, since although it requires a red laser and more complex reading system, the disk media itself is not truly a great leap and could be considered in the right circles "evolutionary, not revolutionary" and that could strip Blu-Ray of a lot of market power (in the form of royalties).
Re:hmph (Score:3, Interesting)
An argument could be made that from a physical perspective only, recordable DVD media is not dramatically different from recordable CD media.
Were that the case, DVDs would not exist. The media DVDs are recorded on was fully half the innovation, and it was a huge leap forward in optical recording technology. DVD-R can't get away with the "burn spot, not a burn spot, burn spot, not a burn spot" of CD-Rs. It is significantly more complicated, and combined with DVD writers and players, represents an innovative leap.
I don't know if you know this, but innovative leaps are considered quite novel, and usually get a patent. The DVD patents have been around for a long time now, and I'm surprised Imation would be dumb enough to try to sell blank discs without a license to the patent.
It's not exactly new.
As much as I hate patents... (Score:3, Interesting)
I hate CMC (memorex) even more. Their products are terrible wastes of plastic that would probably be slightly more useful as coasters (which they usually end up being anyways).
Their dual layer DVDs are a joke and your lucky if you get one dvd-dl out of a pack of 20 that works and lasts for more than a month or two.
Even their single layer DVDs are terrible. They only last a month or two.
And the worst part is CMC has a near monopoly on DVDs. I went to compUSA and they didn't have a single non-CMC brand. If you don't know who makes it...its probably CMC. HP, Imation, Memorex, Generic Brands, and now even single layer once holy Verbatims.
If CMC is sued out of existence for not paying Toshiba then they had whats coming to them. They certainly make terrible products that are a sheer joke. Who in their right mind would honestly trust their data on a CMC disc?
Maybe with CMC out of the picture we can actually find Taiyo Yudens in stores. (because lets face whenever you need more DVDs you need them right away and don't feel like waiting for shipping)