Real Networks Tries To Pop Burst's Bubble On Patent Claims

Posted by Eriq Gardner

We've previously hinted that Burst.com, after wrangling multi-million dollar settlements from Microsoft and Apple over patents related to streaming video, would soon file suit against Real Networks and other companies. Real has beat Burst to the punch.

On Friday, in U.S District Court in California, Real filed suit against Burst seeking a declaratory judgment that it is not violating Burst's patents on the compression and transmittion of video. According to the complaint, the two companies entered into a "Standstill Agreement" in 2005 to not commence any litigation until one month after Burst's lawsuit with Apple was resolved. Burst officially settled with Apple on December 4, terminating the Standstill Agreement on January 3.

The complaint argues that Burst CEO Richard Lang was "incapable of practicing the claimed invention" and committed "inequitible conduct" by withholding this fact from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Real Networks says it is not infringing any of Burst's patents, but the complaint focuses mostly on the requested invalidation of Burst's patents.

Tivo has been battling with Echostar for years over patents on DVR technology, so again, this is a case to watch for any potential fallout.