Acacia Research Corp.'s litigation over its claimed streaming media patents isn't just for adult entertainment anymore – the company has sued nine cable and satellite companies, accusing them of infringing the patent group Acacia calls Digital Media Transmission.
The companies are Comcast, Charter Communications, DirecTV, Echostar Communications, Boulder Ridge Cable TV, Central Valley Cable TV, Seren Innovations, Cox Communications, and Hospitality Network, the last a Cox subsidiary that provides in-room entertainment for the hotel industry.
Last week, Acacia settled a similar lawsuit with another hotel industry in-room entertainment supplier, OnCommand.
Neither Acacia executive vice president Robert Berman nor New Destiny/Homegrown Video chief Spike Goldberg – who co-leads an adult Internet challenge to the DMT patents with VS Media chief Greg Clayman – were available for comment before this story went to press.
But Victor de Gyarfas, one of the attorneys on the defense team, told AVNOnline.com he thinks Acacia is trying to expand their base of potential licensees. "Apparently, the cable companies didn't take a license voluntarily," he said, "and now Acacia's going to try to sue them. According to Acacia, I don't think it does stop until they get everybody who streams audio or video, though they've made an exception for live [material]. Anyone who streams stored audio or video, they're on Acacia's radar screen."
De Gyarfas called the Acacia legal strategy "one of the most massive patent licensing strategies ever undertaken."
