NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--Acacia Research Corporation announced today that its Acacia Media Technologies Corporation subsidiary has initiated patent infringement litigation against cable companies located in Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio, for infringement of Acacia's DMT(R) Patents.
The Company previously initiated patent infringement litigation in June of this year against 6 cable companies in the Northern District of California, 3 of which have settled and signed licensing agreements.
Companies named in the lawsuits include Armstrong Group, Arvig Communication Systems, Block Communications, Inc., Cable America Corporation, Cable One, Inc., Cable System Services, Inc., Cannon Valley Communications, Inc., East Cleveland Cable TV and Communications, LLC, Loretel Cablevision, Massillon Cable TV, Inc., Mid-Continent Media, Inc., Nelsonville TV Cable, Inc., NPG Cable, Inc., Precis Communications, Inc., San Carlos Cablevision, LLC, Savage Communications, Inc., Sjoberg's Cablevision, Inc., US Cable, and Wide Open West, LLC. The Company also announced today that it added Mediacom LLC to its Northern California litigation.
Paul Ryan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, "We continue to make great progress with our DMT(R) licensing program. Of our 175 licensing agreements, 140 licenses were signed without the need for litigation and 35 were signed after litigation was initiated. Although we have recently licensed four cable TV companies and are making progress in licensing discussions with several other cable companies, it may be necessary to bring lawsuits from time to time to enforce our intellectual property."
Rob Berman, Executive Vice President and General Counsel stated, "Litigation is often a necessary part of the licensing business. Experience has shown us that litigation is required before some companies enter into serious licensing discussions. Although litigation is not our preferred course of action, we are prepared to see these cases through to trial if necessary."
Acacia has entered into 175 license agreements for its DMT(R) technology for cable TV, corporate websites, e-learning, hotel on-demand TV services, and online entertainment, movies, music, news, and sports.
