Shares in Rovi dropped more than 11% Tuesday after a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld an earlier ruling that Amazon did not infringe on two Rovi patents tied to interactive and electronic program guide technologies.
Rovi originally sued Amazon for infringing the two patents at issue in today’s decision in 2011.
Rovi vowed to keep the legal heat on Amazon, despite losing this round.
"We are disappointed by this decision," Samir Armaly, Rovi’s executive vice president, worldwide intellectual property and licensing, said, in a statement, noting that the defeat “relates to only two patents in our extensive portfolio.”
He argued that Rovi’s portfolio “is even more relevant to Amazon today,” pointing to Amazon’s expansion into video and over-the-top offerings through products such as the Fire TV, an Android-based, broadband-connected device launched last week.
“We plan to continue to pursue Amazon going-forward to take the necessary licenses under our patent portfolio, not only to protect our rights but also the rights of our existing licensees in this space," Armaly said.
Rovi said its patent portfolio includes more than 5,000 issued and pending applications.
That portfolio has been showing signs of weakness. Among recent examples, a U.K. court last month dismissed Rovi’s claims that Virgin Media was infringing on two patents that Rovi was attempting to link to the MSO’s deployment of set-tops that run TiVo’s software platform. Rovi said it plans to appeal the decision.
On Tuesday, Rovi shares closed down $2.76 (11.87%), to $20.50 each.
