Rovi, a developer of interactive program guides for TVs and set-tops, on
Monday announced a multiyear patent-licensing agreement with Apple,
sending Rovi shares up more than 5% in morning trading.Terms of the
agreement are confidential. Rovi disclosed the deal in an 8-K filing
with the Securities and Exchange Commission and declined to provide
additional information.
Apple is gearing up to ship Apple TV,
a device that will let users rent TV shows and movies and play back
content purchased through iTunes, starting later this month for a list
price of $99.
Rovi claims to have an intellectual-property
portfolio comprising more than 4,600 issued or pending patents and
patent applications worldwide. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company,
formerly called Macrovision Solutions, primarily sells content security,
metadata products and interactive program guides to operators and
consumer-electronics companies. Rovi closed its $2.8 billion acquisition
of Gemstar-TV Guide International in May 2008.
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