Straight Path Campaign Shifts from VoIP and Consumer Electronics to Video Streaming
- May 8, 2014
Netflix was hit by Straight Path IP Group’s campaign that has previously targeted VoIP products, online chat systems, smartphones, tablets, computers, gaming devices, Blu-ray players, televisions, and set-top boxes. Straight Path’s complaint (6:14-cv-00405) accuses Netflix’s servers, software, and online video streaming service of infringing five patents related to point-to-point communication over a computer network or the Internet (6,009,469, 6,108,704, 6,131,121, 6,513,066, 6,701,365). The patents-in-suit were previously asserted by Net2Phone in 2006 against eBay and its then-subsidiary, Skype. During litigation, all five patents were re-examined; in 2010 the USPTO cancelled claim 8 of ‘469 and required amendments to certain claims of ‘469, ‘704, and ‘121. The case against eBay and Skype settled following nearly four years of litigation.