On February 5, 2015, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, in an inter partes review brought by Unified Patents, held all challenged claims unpatentable.
IPR2015-01254 was brought by Unified to protect, inter alia, content delivery technologies. The challenged patent, U.S. Patent 5,930,444, claimed to have invented audiovisual recording and playback devices (e.g., TiVo-style recorders) that provide substantially simultaneous recording and playback, allowing user-controlled programming delay. The Board found that challenged claims 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 13, and 14 were unpatentable over the prior art combinations of record, which included a successful inherency argument.
The '444 patent has been asserted in at least 10 district court cases in the District of Delaware. There are Rule 11 motions for sanctions pending there.
A copy of the ruling is included below.