Wilmington, Del. – Echo Star Communications Corp., the second-largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, and Comcast Corp. sued Finisar Corp., challenging a patent for a system to organize satellite-data transmissions.
Douglas County-based Echo Star said in federal court Monday that Finisar may sue over the patent. Philadelphia-based Comcast, the biggest cable-television provider in the U.S., filed its suit July 7 in San Francisco.
EchoStar has 12.3 million subscribers. Comcast has more than 20 million customers, including 700,000 customers in Colorado.
“Finisar has made statements and taken positions that have given EchoStar a reasonable belief that Finisar is contemplating litigation,” EchoStar said in its complaint.
DirecTV Group Inc., Echo Star’s bigger rival, lost a patent suit filed by Finisar last month. A federal jury in Texas told DirecTV to pay $78.9 million, and a U.S. judge increased that figure by $25 million. DirecTV, based in El Segundo, Calif., also was ordered to pay $1.60 for each set-top box it sells until the patent expires in 2012.
DirecTV is challenging the verdict. With interest, DirecTV was ordered to pay a total of more than $115 million to Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Finisar. The trial was in Beaumont, Texas, in a court district with a high rate of victories for patent owners.
Comcast said in its suit that it has received three letters from Finisar, including one on Feb. 8 that said Comcast should “consider this patent closely as it relates to the cable services offered by your company” and offering a license on “reasonable terms.” In a June 28 letter, Finisar informed Comcast of the DirecTV verdict, Comcast said.
EchoStar and Comcast are seeking court rulings that they don’t infringe the patent, and Comcast claims it isn’t valid.
The pre-emptive suits in Delaware and California may mean EchoStar and Comcast won’t have their cases heard in the same Texas court where Finisar won against DirecTV.
