Major League Baseball’s Website Infringing On Patents, Lawsuit Alleges
First Lawsuit of Its Kind Against MLB Advanced Media
Austin, TX - Sep 8, 2004 (PRN):
Major League Baseball’s website is illegally using patented technology developed by another company to offer its most sophisticated services - including Condensed Games and Searchable Video - to baseball fans across the country, according to a federal lawsuit.
The plaintiff, DDB Technologies, which patented the technology in the 1990s, filed the lawsuit in Austin, Texas. The defendant, MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (MLBAM) which runs Major League Baseball’s Internet website (www.mlb.com), was served with the lawsuit last Friday afternoon.
DDB Technologies is represented by Baniak, Pine & Gannon, a boutique litigation law firm based in Chicago.
The technology at issue in the lawsuit supports many of Major League Baseball’s most innovative website offerings. Subscribers can, among other things: view a computer simulation of a live baseball game through the Gameday feature; see a shortened version of each game containing only the significant plays through the Condensed Game feature; and retrieve video clips of specific plays through the Searchable Video feature. The technology described in the patents supports services ranging from low-end, non-personalized Internet-oriented data services to high-end, personalized data and video services on PCs, wireless devices and set-top boxes. Supported services include:
· Generating play-by-play text, graphics, or animation
· Generating information about the state of the game
· Personalized control over the flow and pace of the game
· Real-time personalized notification
· Post-game personalized highlights
The following specific MLBAM products and services are implicated in the lawsuit: (1) Gameday, (2) Condensed Games, (3) Searchable Video (formerly called Custom Cuts), (4) Highlight Reels and (5) Fantasy Player Tracker.
The lawsuit alleges that representatives of Major League Baseball met repeatedly with Dr. David R. Barstow, now the president of DDB Technologies, in the mid- and late-1990s to discuss the technology that Barstow had patented that allowed the computer simulation and encoding of live events to another location. The lawsuit further alleges that after numerous detailed meetings about the technology, MLBAM began providing various text, graphics and video services over the Internet, without DDB’s permission. In March, 2002, DDB contacted MLBAM to offer terms for a license to the technology covered by the patents, but the overture was rebuffed.
“DDB had no other option remaining to protect its intellectual property,” stated Dr. David R. Barstow, Founder and President of DDB Technologies. “While we tried to reach a negotiated resolution, it just has not happened. Litigation was the option of last resort, but we still hope MLB will do the right thing. The infringing technology is central to the way they operate. I cannot understand why they would not want to ensure their ability to continue to use the technology.”
The patents at issue include U.S. Patent Nos. 5,189,630, 5,526,479, 5,671,347 and 6,204,862.
Last year, DDB announced a non-exclusive licensing agreement with SportsLine.com, Inc. relating to the use of interactive media to cover live events (e.g., sports, news, etc.).
(http://www.sportsline.com/info/ir/press/2003/ddb).
About DDB Technologies, L.L.C.
DDB Technologies, located in Austin, Texas, is an intellectual property holding company established to capitalize on the value of its patented technology. The technology described in the patents supports a variety of interactive media services related to sports events. The company’s President and Founder, Dr. David Barstow, has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University and is the inventor of the technology. Dr. Barstow is an internationally recognized authority in Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering.
About IPAC
IPAC, LLC is an intellectual property (“IP”) investment and asset management company committed to extracting maximum value for IP assets. IPAC invests directly in pools of patents held by IP rich companies or universities and manages those investments through a team of experienced IP experts. In addition, IPAC provides strategic IP consulting services related to IP commercialization. Our experts and network of contacts and affiliates have also served as experts related to damages for IP infringement disputes and other complex commercial litigation disputes. IPAC’s professionals have backgrounds in accounting, economics and finance and extensive global experience in negotiating the economics of IP rich transactions and license agreements. www.ipassetcorp.com
About Baniak, Pine & Gannon
www.bpglaw.com
For more information, contact:
Michael McLaughlin
IPAC, LLC
Tel: (404) 874-0026
