Netflix Sues Blockbuster for Patent Infringement

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

Here we go agian, another chapter in the high tech patent wars. The issue on the table: renting DVDs by wishlist and with unlimited rental periods. And you guess it - Netflix thinks it has the patent and Blockbuster must pay up.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, focuses largely on the online wish lists that prioritize the DVD desires of about 5.4 million people who subscribe to either Netflix or Blockbuster’s Internet service. Netflix also believes its patents cover perhaps its most popular feature — the option of renting a DVD for an unlimited time without incurring late fees.

–Netflix contends it first patented the process for managing DVD wish lists — known as queues — in June 2003. A second patent issued Tuesday to Netflix apparently triggered the lawsuit. Netflix believes the additional patent covers an even wider range of automated interaction with its customers. Netflix hopes to obtain a court order that would force Blockbuster to change the way its online rental service operates or require the company to pay patent royalties — a potentially huge bill, based on other recent patent disputes. Source: Yahoo News

We Say: What about the post office? Can’t they sue for using the mail to get DVDs to people as a patented distribution system or something? Lawyers are having a field day. A wishlist feature is pretty hard to enforce as a patent and unlimited viewing time is hardly a concept either. But what do we know….