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Favourable Decision for Digital Music and Video Download Patent Holder
SightSound Technologies, a video and audio download and file-share electronic commerce company, has obtained a motion for summary judgment against Bertelsmann subsidiary CDNow in a patent infringement action. SightSound is the owner of three patents for techniques for the electronic payment and transmission of digital audio or video signals over a telecommunications line. The patents are apparently rooted in a patent application filed in 1988. The case against CDNow is the first judicial examination of the validity of the SightSound patents.
Although the ruling on the SightSound motion is not determinative of the action as a whole, it is expected to create a stir in the music and video download industry, as it casts doubt upon the belief that some basic computer and Internet techniques are publicly rather than privately owned. Given that the patents were granted about 10 years ago in a different business and technology era, the patents map a model for delivering digital audio or video signals from one party to another in exchange for an electronic payment, without reference to specific encoding or data transmission technology. Should a jury determine that SightSound has the right to enforce its patents, it could affect many of those who offer digital music and video downloads. Such a decision could have a major impact on several entertainment-industry players as they prepare to offer legal Internet downloads to consumers.
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