Ongoing patent infringement litigation has forced Thomson to discontinue marketing a popular RCA ClearPlay DVD player carried nationally by Wal-Mart and Kmart.
At the start of the year, Thomson introduced its RCA DRC232N DVD player with the ClearPlay parental-control feature as a product exclusive for the two national chains.
The system is said to strip out objectionable language and scenes from pre-recorded DVD movies, using a database maintained and marketed with a variety of subscription options by ClearPlay.
However, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based rival known as Nissim Corp. filed a patent infringement claim against ClearPlay on May 13. Nissim has developed a system called CustomPlay MediaCenter with parental control features.
ClearPlay’s CEO Bill Aho, could not be reached for comment.
“CustomPlay MediaCenter is an operating system middle layer that enables all-in-one home entertainment set-top players to synergistically integrate the most advanced set of digital media capabilities,†Nissim said. “CustomPlay MediaCenter’s user interface implements revolutionary auto-active media controls and innovative features that provide unparallel playback of a full spectrum of digital content.
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