Even though TiVo’s top patent litigators have exited the company following its $1.1 billion merger with Xperi, the combined unit will continue its legal battle with Comcast, a rep for Xperi Holdings told Next TV.
“There will be no impact,” the rep said in a terse one-sentence statement, responding to an email asking how the departures of TiVo’s general counsel and chief compliance officer, Pamela Sergeeff, and its chief intellectual property officer, Arvin Patel, will affect the ongoing patent dispute with Comcast.
Also read: TiVo’s Top Patent Litigator, Arvin Patel, Out Following $1.1B Xperi Merger
Sergeef and Patel’s departures were revealed last week in SEC filings detailing their severance packages.
The newly combined company, under the direction of Xperi Holdings, controls 11,000 patents, many of them originating from Rovi Corp., the company TiVo merged with in 2016.
It was also back in 2016 that the resulting TiVo Corp. began battling Comcast to pay patent royalties tied to the cable operator’s X1 platform.
Patel had led TiVo’s litigation against Comcast, which spanned multiple venues and lawsuits. In TiVo quarterly earnings reports, former CEO Dave Shull regularly updated investors on the progress of the Comcast litigation, specifying it as a high priority for the company.
Xperi Holdings has not revealed who will run the legal team facing Comcast now.
