We served as lead trial counsel defending Comcast against the four-year patent-litigation campaign brought by Rovi/TiVo

Davis Polk represented Comcast in numerous patent litigations initiated by Rovi Corporation and its affiliates (then part of TiVo Corporation), in which Rovi asserted 37 patents total across seven different cases. Rovi first filed suit on April 1, 2016, after the parties could not agree on terms for a renewal of Comcast’s portfolio license. After four-plus years of litigation, the parties reached a global business resolution shortly after Rovi/TiVo merged with Xperi Corporation. Here is a summary of each of the major cases that we handled in serving as lead counsel for Comcast:

  • Rovi Guides Inc. et al. v. Comcast Corp. et al.: Rovi and its subsidiaries asserted eight patents against Comcast in the Eastern District of Texas. We secured transfer to the Southern District of New York and eliminated seven of the eight patents, and obtained summary judgement of non-infringement of the final patent for all but a ten-month period.
  • Certain Digital Video Receivers and Hardware and Software Components Thereof, ITC: In February 2018, Rovi filed a complaint with the ITC asserting eight additional patents. The parties tried the case in October 2018. In June 2019, the ALJ found no violations in two of the three patents addressed. As to the third patent, the ALJ approved Comcast’s trivial redesign.
  • Rovi Guides, Inc. v. Comcast Corp. et al.: In January 2019, Rovi filed an eight-patent case against Comcast in Santa Ana in which we obtained a stay pending IPR of all eight patents.
  • Comcast Corporation v. International Trade Commission: In April 2019, Rovi filed a complaint alleging violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in connection with eight patents related to DVRs and interactive program guides. The January 2020 trial resulted in a finding of no violation on one patent and a violation on two others. While Comcast was appealing to the full Commission, the parties reached a global business arrangement on favorable terms.

The Davis Polk litigation team included partners Ashok Ramani, David Lisson, and Micah Block, counsel Philip Sheng, and associates Gareth DeWalt, Serge Voronov, Kaiya Arroyo, Ian Hogg, and Allegra Bianchini. Members of the Davis Polk team are based in the Northern California office.

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