Digeo Secures Three New US Patents for its Moxi Interface and Guide

--Becomes Embroiled in Patent and Antitrust Litigation with Gemstar

Paul Allen-owned interactive TV products and services company, Digeo, has secured three new US patents for its Moxi TV interface and guide. The interface is part of Digeo's flagship Moxi Media Center DVR-equipped set-top box platform, which the company says has been deployed by eight US cable operators in over 100 markets (to date, close to 400,000 Moxi-based set-tops are in the field, according to the company). The Linux-based Moxi platform, which Digeo offers as a licensable reference design, allows end-users to store, access and manage a variety of entertainment content through a single, unified menu. The platform is notable for its interface, which won Emmy awards in 2004 and 2005, and which replaces the standard "spreadsheet" EPG interface with a so-called "cross-hairs" configuration, consisting of two intersecting animated lines at right angles to each other: customers use the left and right arrow keys on their remote control to scroll through a series of customizable categories (dubbed "filters" by the company) on the horizontal line--e.g. HDTV, sports, news, movies, photos, games, MP3 Jukebox, etc.; they then use the remote's up and down arrow keys to scroll through the sub-listings of the currently highlighted category, which appear as a vertical line intersecting the line of categories. "The first thing consumers notice when they use Moxi is the intuitive, easy-to-use interface," Digeo CEO, Mike Fidler, said in a prepared statement. "It is one of the reasons Moxi fans say they will never go back to old-fashioned programming guides. We are thrilled that the US Patent and Trademark Office now recognizes the innovative and intuitive approach our developers have taken to make television viewing a more satisfying experience." (Note: for an in-depth interview with Fidler, see [itvt] Issue 6.91.)

Meanwhile, around a week after Digeo announced that it had secured the new patents, EPG developer Gemstar-TV Guide announced that it had filed a patent-infringement case in Federal Court in the Central District of California, alleging that the Moxi guide infringes on certain Gemstar EPG patents. Gemstar has a long history of aggressive defense of its patents, having sued a number of companies for patent-infringement (including EchoStar, Motorola, Pioneer and Scientific-Atlanta) with mixed results. According to Gemstar, its complaint alleges that Digeo has engaged in and continues to engage in "willful infringement" of its patents through the Moxi guide, and that Digeo's sister company, Charter Communications, which uses the Moxi guide, is also liable. Gemstar says that it filed the lawsuit after patent-licensing discussions with Digeo failed, and after Digeo subsequently filed antitrust litigation against Gemstar (note: Gemstar not surprisingly says that it believes Digeo's claims in its antitrust lawsuit are "without merit"). "We have attempted over an extended period of time to engage in patent licensing discussions with Digeo regarding the Moxi guide," Gemstar general counsel, Stephen H. Kay, said in a prepared statement. "Digeo's refusal to negotiate a patent license with us, and its decision to file suit against us, left us no option except to pursue legal remedies to protect the value of our intellectual property."

Originally Published: October 17, 2006 in [itvt] Issue 7.00

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