Movielink announced today that the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has ruled that Movielink’s online movie distribution service does notinfringe USA Video Technology Corporation’s patent, effectively ending USA Video’s patent infringement case against Movielink before the District Court.
The Court’s order granting Movielink’s motion for summary judgment on the grounds of non-infringement was entered on January 28, 2005. The underlying lawsuit was filed in April 2003, and alleged that Movielink was willfully infringing USA Video’s patent (U.S. Patent No. 5,130,792) “for a system and method for a user to request, and have delivered over an electronic network, a digitized video program.” USA Video sought injunctive relief, compensatory damages and treble damages for willful infringement. Movielink denied all claims in its answer to the complaint.
“Movielink’s vision for a robust broadband VOD market is founded on respecting legitimate intellectual property rights and encouraging other businesses in the market to respect them as well,” said Jim Ramo, CEO, Movielink. “Based on these principles, which are at the core of our business, we vigorously defended against the USA Video infringement claims because we knew that Movielink was not infringing its patent. We are pleased, but not surprised, that the Court has agreed with us.”