April 2006
Blockbuster Busted Over US DVD Patent?
In recent months the model of “Dvd rental by post” has become increasingly popular in the UK as an alternative to running back to the rental store on a cold Sunday night before the overdue fines set in.
Blockbuster have been offering such a service in the US just as they have in the UK however the appear to have fallen foul of the more lax US patent system which traditionally enables people to protect inventions that may not be capable of patent protection in the UK.
Netflix, a DVD rental company, apparently owns several US patents allegedly protecting the idea of a postal DVD rental service.
It appears that the online based company has gone so far as to issue proceedings against Blockbuster in the Northern District of California.
The case seemingly revolves around how customers select DVDs, how they are despatched, and how their favourites list is maintained.
The relevant patents and claims that Netflix appear to be seeking to rely on are:
- “Mailing and response envelope” which contains over 10 claims in relation to the use of envelopes to send and return rental DVDs.
- “Method and apparatus for renting items”
- “Approach for renting items to customers” both of which relate to aspects of rental via computer.
All three patents have been granted, one of them only recently implying that this may be the reason behind the sudden attack on Blockbuster
BRIFFA Comment:
At the present time this action appears to be linked only to the USA in that under the letter of the law patents for business methods are not permissible in the UK and neither are software patents thereby meaning that it is likely that Netflix would have had a much more difficult time obtaining the patents that they have in the UK. Therefore do not worry that your door to door dvd fix will be forced to end any time very soon.
Sarah Jeffery
Sarah@briffa.com