SynchView Technologies, LLC v. Channel Master, LLC

SynchView Technologies, LLC has added three more defendants to the litigation campaign that it began roughly one year ago. ARRIS (1:19-cv-02726), Comcast (1:19-cv-02728), and Technicolor (1:19-cv-02726) are accused of infringing a single digital video recorder patent through the provision of certain DVRs (for ARRIS, certain Motorola and Pace DVRs; for Comcast, its Xfinity and other DVRs, as well as at least one Motorola DVR; and for Technicolor, certain of its Explorer DVRs). SynchView, an affiliate of Atlanta-based IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), filed its new complaints, as well as several filed earlier, in the Northern District of Georgia.

Last week saw SynchView Technologies, LLC, an affiliate of Atlanta-based IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), add a Northern District of Georgia case against Cox Communications (1:19-cv-00931) to its expanding DVR campaign, as well as transfers of earlier cases, filed separately against Charter and Consolidated Communications, both to the District of Delaware. SynchView has asserted a single patent, generally pertaining to digital video recorders (DVRs), throughout the campaign, which has targeted the provision of various DVRs as well as related television service. Here, the NPE focuses on Cox’s provision of its Cisco 8642 DVR and its Motorola DCT-6412 DVR, each with related cable service.

Altice (2:19-cv-00643) and Hulu (1:19-cv-00075) have been added to the DVR campaign of SynchView Technologies, LLC with new cases filed in the Eastern District of New York and in the Western District of Texas, respectively. The plaintiff targets certain Altice DVRs (e.g., Scientific Atlanta/Cisco 8300 DVR, TiVo Premiere DVRs, and “DVRs providing the functionality described in the ‘Inside iGuide User’s Reference Manual’ issued by Altice USA’s Suddenlink television service”) and Hulu with Live TV and Cloud DVR. These latest cases join prior suits in Delaware, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group) has launched one new campaign, via affiliate Visible Connections, LLC, and expanded another, through affiliate SynchView Technologies, LLC, both over patents recently acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). As RPX noted this past May, multiple patents received from IV were passed along to Visible Connections, including two telecommunications conferencing patents originating with Spiderphone; and one patent generally related to an interface program for sharing an application program between two or more computers, developed by GTE Laboratories (which merged in 2000 with Bell Atlantic, forming Verizon). The NPE has now asserted two of those patents against ZOHO (1:18-cv-00859), zeroing in on the defendant’s provision of various products and services offering videoconferencing and screen-sharing features. Meanwhile, SynchView has added cases against Charter Communications (4:18-cv-00719) and Consolidated Communications (Consolidated Communications of Texas) (9:18-cv-00183) to the DVR campaign begun this past May.

SynchView Technologies, LLC, an apparent affiliate of Atlanta-based monetization firm IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has initiated a new litigation campaign, asserting a single patent generally related to digital video recorders (DVRs). The NPE has sued Atlantic Broadband Finance (1:18-cv-00723), Blue Ridge Communications (1:18-cv-00724), and Channel Master (1:18-cv-00725) in the District of Delaware, as well as Grande Communications Networks (1:18-cv-00412) in the Western District of Texas. Atlantic, Blue Ridge, and Grande are alleged to infringe through the provisions of DVRs and related services provided by TiVo, while Channel Master’s accused products are DVRs sold under its own brand.