U.S. Patent No. 6,148,081 is generally directed to controlling interactive television access to media content. U.S. Patent No. 7,644,429 is generally directed to conditional access to payperview and broadcast television programs based on user information. The Court stated that “[t]he practice of controlling access to information by verifying credentials (via wellknown encryption methods) is neither novel nor specific to interactive television systems” and that “[g]ranting access to a product (payperview programming for example) after confirming that the user has paid for the product and provided certain productspecific information has been a wellknown practice in the cable industry for decades.” The Court went on to say that both patents require nothing more than a general purpose computer with wellknown components. The Court held that both patents at issue are directed to abstract ideas and are invalid.
OpenTV, Inc. et al v. Apple Inc., No. 5:15cv02008 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 28, 2016) (Davila, E.).
