Montréal, August 19, 2024 - Videotron welcomes the Federal Court of Appeal decision upholding a lower-court ruling that several patents held by U.S. company Adeia Guides Inc. (formerly known as ROVI), which were allegedly infringed by the technology in Videotron’s illico terminal, are invalid. The decision was handed down on August 6 and made public on August 16.
“This Federal Court of Appeal ruling confirming the egregious nature of ROVI’s practices sends a message to tech companies that it’s time to stand up to these patent trolls, which demand outrageously expensive licenses for patents that are ultimately found to be invalid,” commented Pierre Karl Péladeau, President and CEO of Quebecor. “This type of tactic is a real problem for our economy. Bear in mind that the patent system was created to protect inventions and reward innovation. Quebecor and Videotron will continue to vigorously defend their interests, as we do in fighting piracy and counterfeiting.”
The Federal Court had ruled in favour of Videotron in this case in 2022 but ROVI decided to appeal. In its original lawsuit, ROVI accused Videotron of using its patented technologies for features such as pausing television, rewinding live broadcasts, programming and saving recordings, and synchronizing settings with various TV guides. Videotron argued that these inventions were known and obvious, and existed long before ROVI filed its patents in 1999.
The Federal Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge’s finding that the technologies at issue were part of the general knowledge of any person skilled in the art.
