Saturday | 6 September, 2008
Computerworld
Microsoft's Silverlight draws patent suit
Gotuit Media has sued Microsoft, claiming that Silverlight violates its video indexing patents.
Computerworld Buyer's Guide - Vendors Matched to this Article
Additional Resources
Executive Guides
Whitepapers
Zones
Zone logoZones provide focussed content from Computerworld and leading technology partners.

Newsletter Subscription

Sign up for our Computerworld newsletters!
Computerworld's twice-daily news service keeps you in touch with the latest, most important headlines from Australia and around the world.
Keep up with the latest virtualisation technologies, products, news and features.
RSS Feeds

Video software developer Gotuit Media has sued Microsoft, claiming that its Silverlight multimedia software infringes several of the company's patents.

Gotuit Media filed the suit last Wednesday in US federal court in San Francisco, claiming that Silverlight infringes on three Gotuit patents, which cover ways of making videos searchable on the Internet.

Released last year, Silverlight is Microsoft's alternative to the Flash and QuickTime multimedia formats. Heavily promoted by Microsoft, it lets Windows users watch video or animated graphics through their browsers.

Gotuit sells software that lets users add text data to video clips, making it possible to search and sort through videos for the parts they want. The software has been used on several high-profile Web sites including those of Sports Illustrated and the National Hockey League.

In court filings, Gotuit says Silverlight infringes on its patents because it too gives users a way to enhance video with "metadata tags in order to enable video search and navigation and provide a personalized viewing experience."

"Microsoft has infringed and is still infringing the patents," Gotuit says in its complaint.

The company cites Microsoft's upcoming on-demand video coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on NBCOlympics.com as infringing behavior because this Web site uses Silverlight to tag video and make it searchable.

The suit seeks an injunction preventing Microsoft from using this technology and asks the court to award damages and legal fees.

Founded in 2000, Gotuit counts Motorola and venture capital firms Highland Capital Partners and Atlas Venture among its investors.

The Woburn, Massachusetts, company's outside counsel, Spencer Hosie, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Reached last Thursday, a Microsoft representative was unable to comment on the suit.

Computerworld Buyer's Guide - Vendors Matched to this Article
Market Place

Computerworld Member Login


 

Prioritizing Services with IT Service Management (ITSM)

Computerworld Live Webinar
Wednesday 20th, August 2008
11:00am EST (Sydney, Australia)

To be repeated on:

Thursday 4th, September 2008
11:00am EST (Sydney Australia)

Sign up and receive a free copy of The Forrester WaveTM Service Desk Management Tools, Q2 2008 at the conclusion of the Webinar.

Attend and discover:

  • How to deliver value to your business through ITSM
  • Best practice ITSM implementation
  • Why emphasis is changing from optimizing IT management processes to better servicing customers and demonstrating real dollar value
  • If service-oriented ITSM is best for your business
Whitepaper

Radicati Market Quadrant 2008 on Corporate Web Security

An Analysis of the Market for Corporate Web Security Solutions, revealing Top Players, Mature Players, Specialists and Trail Blazers. Read on to discover who makes the grade.

Enterprise IT Buyer's Guide
Find Technology Vendors Fast
 
Find vendors by name | Find by category
Sponsored Links