ActiveVideo-Cisco license deal could help Verizon build workaround

A license deal Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) has signed with interactive TV technology developer ActiveVideo to license its CloudTV platform for use in its VideoScape product could help Verizon (NYSE: VZ) resolve a patent dispute it has with ActiveVideo.

Cisco's VideoScape product.

ActiveVideo won a patent dispute lawsuit it had filed against Verizon last year, and in November, the telco said it would work with Cisco to develop an interactive TV solution for its FiOS TV service that doesn't violate ActiveVideo's intellectual property. The telco has been ordered to pay ActiveVideo royalties of up to $11 million monthly until it develops a workaround, and an injunction issued in November by a federal judge gives Verizon until May 24 to develop alternative technology for FiOS TV.

On Tuesday, Cisco announced at the Consumer Electronics Show that it was adding new cloud-based technology to its Videoscape platform, including a VideoScape Voyager Vantage software platform that would allow pay TV distributors to deliver electronic program guides and video-on-demand content from cloud-based servers. While Cisco didn't name ActiveVideo in its announcement, an ActiveVideo spokesman confirmed that the set-top manufacturer has licensed its CloudTV technology. Multichannel News first reported that Cisco had signed a licensing deal with Cisco.

Asked if any of Cisco's customers had agreed to deploy CloudTV products to their customers, the ActiveVideo spokesman noted that no customers have been announced. Officials at Verizon and Cisco didn't respond to a request for comment.

ActiveVideo also released a statement from CEO Jeff Miller about the Cisco OEM deal. "ActiveVideo's CloudTV solution cuts through the device chaos created by diverse set-top box models, and helps Videoscape become widely and quickly deployed. We are delighted to have the world's largest networking infrastructure provider expanding ActiveVideo's value proposition globally and helping our customers deliver uniform viewing experience to their subscribers," Miller said.

For more:
- see the Cisco Videoscape release

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