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[fenrif]

Piracy is bad, but not when we do it!

Warner Bros. has been sued for stealing an antipiracy technology patent.

The claim comes from a German company called Medien Patent Verwaltung. According to new infringement lawsuits filed against Warners, Technicolor and Deluxe in New York and Germany, MPV says that in 2003, it introduced the studio to a method of marking films with a distinctive code so it could track back sources of piracy to the exact theater in which an unauthorized copy originated. MPV says it has been trying to get Warners to pay for use of the technology since it allegedly began incorporating the invention in prints throughout Europe in 2004.

“We disclosed our anti-piracy technology to Warner Bros. in 2003 at their request, under strict confidentiality, expecting to be treated fairly," MPV says in a statement. "Instead, they started using our technology extensively without our permission and without any accounting to us. However, we had taken care to obtain patents to protect MPV's technology, and we are now in a position where we must assert our rights.”

Warner Bros. declines to comment on the dispute. But we've discovered that MPV made a little mistake in its New York lawsuit.

The patent that MPV cites in its complaint is 7,187,633, entitled "Motion Picture and Anti-Piracy Coding."

But our search of the patent records reveals that patent number has another title: "Marking of a Data Medium Material for Information Intended for Reproduction." There is another patent entitled "Motion Picture and Anti-Piracy Coding." The assignee? You guessed it: Warner Bros.

Did the Germans accidentally steal the title of Warners' own patent when suing the studio for stealing?

The answer appears to be yes. Reached for comment, New York attorney Richard Garbarini, representing the plaintiffs, admits the error and says he will file an amended complaint.

In the meantime, there's still the larger issue of whether a major studio stole technology to help it prevent people from stealing its movies.

Anyone else find this hillarious? Though it's kinda sad considering that WB will probobly get off scott-free.

[smigenboger]

I may not be reading that right, but I read that as 'A German company stole a patent name from Warner who stole the patent from the German company so they could prevent people from stealing their productions'

[fenrif]

I think they just misquoted the name of their patent number accidentally. Instead of citing their patent number they cited the number of the patent WB filed for the stolen copyright stuff.

I'd love to see them sue WB for multiple thousands of dollars for each specific use of their technology.

[eerr]

I'm pretty sure patent law is violated when stuff is distributed in a paid transaction.

...

How are movies distributed to theaters?

[alway]

Poetic justice strikes again.

[Creaca]

Warner Brothers are pirating hypocrites?

Eh, join the club.

[Firehound]

All I have to say to WB....

lrn 2 pirat. PLZKTHNX!

[Retro]

I may not be reading that right, but I read that as 'A German company stole a patent name from Warner who stole the patent from the German company so they could prevent people from stealing their productions'

Oh man, I laughed.

[Virex]

   How the hell does a company get the name of it's own patent wrong? Even if you're not sure, you can just use the EPO database to check it...

[fenrif]

They didn't get the name wrong, but the patent number. Bearing in mind they have a lawyer representing them in New York and they're based in Germany, it's not unthinkable that their could've been a communication error somewhere along the line. Or their lawyer is just crap.

[Virex]

In that case someone made a pretty huge mes-up somewhere. There's nothing to gain by stealing a patent's name and any competent patent attorney would check the name first. Do they have an actual patent? I checked the one referenced, but couldn't figure out if it was licensed to the company. If not, then this is probably a classic case of a false sue, in which they come up with an imaginary (or in this case not) patent hoping the company wold settle for a nice amount of bucks.

[fenrif]

From the article I get the impression that there are two patents involved, the original one the german compy filed "Marking of a Data Medium Material for Information Intended for Reproduction" and the one WB filed for the same tech "Motion Picture and Anti-Piracy Coding."

The article isn't written very well TBH, hopefully there'll be some more about this on some sites that actually have compotent reporters.

[Grakelin]

Not the first time they've been sued for piracy.