Posted on 06/14/2006 11:56:24 AM PDT by Panerai
Internet video rental company Netflix's legal claims against rival Blockbuster are based on "unenforceable patents," Blockbuster said in a counterclaim filed on Tuesday.
In a bid to shut down its online service, Netflix had sued Blockbuster, the leading movie and game rental company. But Dallas-based Blockbuster on Tuesday said the lawsuit is based on patents that Netflix obtained deceptively in a bid to monopolize online rentals.
In an April lawsuit, Netflix accused Blockbuster of starting its online service in 2004 despite knowing that the service infringed a Netflix patent.
"There is nothing original about renting movies or subscription rental programs," Blockbuster lawyer Marshall Grossman said, noting that both were widely practiced long before any such invention by Netflix.
"(That is) like a fast-food restaurant trying to patent selling hamburgers through a drive-through window," he added.
The claims filed by Blockbuster against Netflix also allege that Netflix failed to inform the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of previous patents and previous business methods of other companies. Blockbuster said Netflix has admitted that it was aware of the prior patents of another company, which had already put Netflix on notice about possible patent infringement.
Responding to Blockbuster's charges, Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said the company has filed its claims on the matter and will vigorously defend its patents.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
Maybe it's just me, but it sure seems like Netflix is grasping at straws lately. I can only guess it's just about time to stick a fork in Netflix.
Not really. Even if the patents don't hold up, Netflix still has the upper hand in the market.
I don't know what's gotten into the patent office, but for the past decade or so they'll issue a patent for just about anything and let the courts sort it out.
Video on Demand will eventually kill them both.
Don't forget Blockbuster=Time Warner/AOL=Anti Free Republic America
I hope this applies to other absurd patents like "one click" from Amazon.
Even if so, on this one I will take the side of "evil" Blockbuster. And I despise Blockbuster with a passion.
Like another poster said, I can't wait until both Blockbuster & Netflix are out of business.
True, true and true.
There have been a lot of so-called "business practice patents". For example, Priceline patented "Name Your Own Price". These patents are highly controversial and IMHO very dubious.
My "favorite" example is eBay's one button "Buy It Now" was found in violation of someone else's patent.
Give me a break.
Be prepared for more and more of these types of patent lawsuits. It's the fault of the Patent Office for letting business models be patentable. It's a relatively recent decision they came up with. That's right. If you have a new idea on how to run a business or market a product, you can patent it and no one can use those business techniques you patented. So if Netflix pateneted the idea of renting DVDs through the mail order and/or internet ordering, they have a monopoly for the next couple of decades.
Kind of like a buggy whip manufacturer patenting the "crack" sound.
Actually, Netflix is already moving to corner as much of the emerging VoD market as possible, so in 5-10 years we'll probably be reading a comparable headline in that context..
I think Blockbuster will eventually win, but this is what they get for not being innovative and aggressive in their marketing. Someone else eats your lunch.
"Kind of like a buggy whip manufacturer patenting the "crack" sound."
Trademarks & Brands
United States of America
Harley-Davidson of US abandons sound trademark
Customers find engine sound distinctive
Harley-Davidson, the largest motorcycle maker in the US, had decided to abandon its application for registering the distinctive roar of its V-Twin engine as a trademark, after 6 years of facing oppositions. The application filed in 1994, was approved by the US Patent and Trademark Office on grounds that the sound, by itself, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and distinguished them from other motorcycles. But several competitors, opposed the application and Harley-Davidson is awaiting a ruling on one such opposition for more than three years.
Abandoning the application to register the trademark, the Company has reasoned that, "If our customers know the sound cannot be imitated, that good enough for ... Harley-Davidson."
Why? Netflix has 85% of the online rental market. Blockbuster has about 12%. That's not a competition; that's a slaughter.
Blockbuster has storefronts, but so what? The only thing that counts for on the internet is name recognition and Netflix has just as much name recognition among net users as does Blockbuster.
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