Libertyville-based Motorola Mobility is suing TiVo Inc., saying that the technology company is infringing on several of its patents for digital video recorders.
Motorola Mobility was split off from Motorola Inc. at the beginning of the year and comprises mobile devices and TV set-top boxes. Motorola entered the cable business in 2000 with its $17 billion buyout of Horsham, Pa.-based General Instrument Corp. General Instrument’s DVR technology is at the heart of the lawsuit Motorola filed Friday against TiVo in federal court in Texarkana, Tex.
According to Motorola’s complaint, a company called Imedia Corp., founded by former General Instrument engineers, is behind “fundamental inventions related to digital video recorders (“DVRS”), which are now ubiquitous in American households.” General Instrument later acquired these patents.
TiVo sued Verizon Communications Inc. for patent infringement in 2009, claiming that its set-top boxes violate TiVo intellectual property. Because Motorola and General Instrument supply these devices, Verizon has asked that Motorola defend it and indemnify it against claims related to the litigation.
In its Friday lawsuit against TiVo, Motorola is seeking a judgment that TiVo’s technology infringes on its patents. Motorola also wants a ruling that the set-top boxes used by Verizon do not infringe on TiVo’s intellectual property.
“TiVo is attempting to assert its patents against technology disclosed and claimed in Motorola Mobility’s patents, despite the fact that Motorola Mobility’s patents were filed more than three years before TiVo’s patents,” Motorola said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo was not immediately available for comment.
