News Round-Up (VII)

The [itvt] editorial team will be on the road this week and next, so we will be covering most stories in round-up/summary form, and we anticipate that there will be some additional interruptions of our regular news publishing schedule beyond that. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

• The US Patent and Trademark Office has issued a final rejection of two elements of TiVo's so-called "Time Warp" patent--the subject of the company's long-running, parallel but separate, legal dispute with DISH Network and EchoStar--on the grounds that those elements were a variation of earlier inventions (note: the patent will, however, remain in force during any appeals process). This is the second major "Time Warp" setback for TiVo in as many months. Just last month, DISH Network and EchoStar were granted an "en banc" (i.e. full-court) review that will see a panel of 10 or so judges from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC revisiting a March 3rd decision by three of the court's judges upholding a ruling by the US District Court in Eastern Texas that DISH Network and EchoStar were in contempt of court for attempting a workaround that the lower court decided still infringed upon the TiVo patent. TiVo and DISH Network/EchoStar have both issued statements in response to the USPTO's ruling.
• Toshiba has announced two new Blu-ray Disc players, the BDX2500 and the BDX2700 that feature OTT video from Blockbuster on Demand, Netflix and Vudu, as well as streaming music from Pandora. Meanwhile, Sonic Solutions has announced that its RoxioNow platform is powering broadband video on the new devices.
• Augmented reality specialist, Total Immersion, has unveiled an "AR+" logo for augmented reality applications. The logo is intended for use on product packaging and in advertising, marketing materials and other communications from any company providing AR-enhanced media, Total Immersion says, and can be downloaded free of charge from http://arplus.t-immersion.com. "With the new AR+ logo, the industry can give consumers, developers, brands, and others a consistent framework for encountering and understanding augmented reality solutions," Total Immersion CEO, Bruno Uzzan, said in a prepared statement. "There's a sense that the AR industry has grown up too fast, that it has at times felt like the 'Wild West.' Today, the industry consists of multiple players, multiple platforms and easier access to AR. The new AR+ logo affirms that we're working with a new human interface, now going mainstream."
• Online video advertising network operator, Tremor Media, has announced a strategic partnership with in-stream video advertising solutions provider, Innovid, to offer interactive pre-roll ads across Tremor Media's network of 1,500+ sites. "This joint product offering will be marketed under the name vChoice iRoll and will extend Tremor Media's current vChoice family of interactive ad formats," Tremor Media explains in its press materials. "As a part of Tremor Media's commitment to innovation, the company will be the first and only video ad network to market and re-sell Innovid's iRoll technology...vChoice iRoll offers multiple enhancements to standard pre-roll designed to increase the level of consumer interactivity. This includes the ability to print coupons, view multiple videos, showcase a carousel of products, look up movie show times, and a social media sharing functionality."