Plaintiff SynchView Technologies, LLC filed a complaint against defendant FuboTV Inc. for patent infringement. The complaint was filed in the New York Southern District Court. The plaintiff is represented by Kent & Risley.
The patent-in-suit is U.S. Patent No. 6,788,882 (the “’882 Patent”), entitled “Systems and Methods for Storing a Plurality of Video Streams on Re-Writable Random-Access Media and Time- and Channel-Based Retrieval Thereof.” The patent reflects the idea that “[a]s viewer habits change and the choice of programming (channels) grows, people want to adapt television programming to their schedule, rather than the other way around.” Further, while VCRs allowed users to record a program and watch later, the flexibility provided was limited. The patent addresses this issue. The ’882 Patent sought to increase flexibility for users to view programs aired on a variety of channels.
SynchView Technologies alleges that FuboTV has infringed on the ’882 patent through its FuboTV and Cloud DVR Plus brands by “making, importing, using, selling, or offering for sale in the United States products that embody the patented invention, including at least claims 1, 5-9, 12, 13, 16-24, 27, 28, and 31-33.” The plaintiff states that FuboTV’s infringing products satisfy each element for the claims they infringe upon. SynchView Technologies also claims that FuboTV induces its customers to infringe by using its products.
For example, the plaintiff declares that FuboTV infringes on claim 1, which states, “[a] digital video recorder (DVR) for recording a plurality of television broadcast programs, comprising: a mass data storage unit that concurrently and continuously receives and digitally stores a plurality or television broadcast programs together with time information to allow said plurality of stored television broadcast programs to by synchronized with respect to one another…” FuboTV allegedly infringes upon this claim because it provides a DVR “for recording a plurality of television broadcasts.” Specifically, “FuboTV provides 10 DVR slots into which you can store any sporting event or TV show. The number of events you can record at once corresponds to the number of free slots you have remaining.” Viewers can record and stream multiple programs at once. The 10 DVR slots are the “mass data storage unit that concurrently and continuously receives and digitally stores a plurality of television broadcast programs.” Therefore, as a result of the 10 DVR slots and their functionality, SynchView Technologies states that FuboTV has infringed claim 1 of the patent. Additionally, FuboTV is accused of infringing claim 5. Claim 5 states “[t]he DVR as recited in claim 1 wherein said channel viewer comprises a channel guide database containing pointers to locations in said mass data storage unit.” FuboTV allegedly infringes because its “program guide comprises a channel guide database that contains pointers to locations in the mass data storage unit, including both programs the user is currently streaming and previously stored programs.”
SynchView Technologies has sought an adjudication of FuboTV’s infringement, an award for damages, pre- and post-judgment interest interests, an award for costs and fees, as well as other relief as determined by the court.
