AfterDawn: News

InterVideo sues Dell for patent infringement

The company responsible for the WinDVD software, InterVideo, has sued Dell for infringing one of its patents. This particular patent (number 6,765,788) details a "method and apparatus for integrating personal computer and electronic device functions". For example, think of play/pause, rewind and fast forward buttons on a laptop that allow it's DVD drive to act like a regular DVD player. InterVideo yesterday said it had filed a formal complaint with the US District Court of Northern California.

InterVideo believes that Dell added such functionality to many of its products even though the company knew the technology belonged to a third-party. This is not the first case over this patent either; last year InterVideo alleged Acer had infringed the same patent but that case was resolved to the company's satisfaction. InterVideo asked the court to ban Dell from making, importing, marketing and selling devices which infringe the patent.



It also wants the court to make Dell pay the legal costs as well as unspecified "enhanced damages".

Source:
The Register

Written by: James Delahunty @ 16 Aug 2005 20:16

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• 20 comments

• Pop_Smith

  Dell = Top Computer company in the world.
  
  InterVideo = good DVD software maker
  
  Winner = Dell, IMHO
  
  Peace
  
  Pop Smith

  16.8.2005 21:06 #1

• whocares1

  Die Dell Die

  16.8.2005 22:44 #2

• nonoitall

  Too much sewage these days...

  17.8.2005 00:00 #3

• richks

  "InterVideo believes that Dell added such functionality to many of its products even though the company knew the technology belonged to a third-party"
  
  This is not a technology which is being copied, it's simply an idea. It's like saying you can't make a sandwhich with cheese in it because someone else thought of that first. This kind of lawsuit is bad for consumers, reduces choice etc etc and is basically totally retatrded.

  17.8.2005 05:27 #4

• Teken

  I dont really understand what it is they *infringed* upon?
  
  I have used all versions of WinDVD, PowerDVD, etc. They all have some form of virtual buttons, it is how it is grouped or configured that appears to be different, but that is nothing new.
  
  Anyone who has made similar products would also be accountable, but you dont see anyone being sued over it, strange.
  
  BTW, DELL absolutely sucks aszz . . . Worst customer service reps who cannot speak an ounce of proper English, or understand it. Makes me really wonder if they (DELL) suck aszz so much, how does the rest of the industry rate?
  
  
  Regards
  
  EVIL Teken . . .

  17.8.2005 05:45 #5

• ddrhazy

  Dell like most companies probably outsources their customer representatives to India and pays them a whole lot less. That's capitalization/globalization for you.

  17.8.2005 07:39 #6

• Daemon404

  DAMN YOU DELL! DAMN YOU!

  17.8.2005 07:42 #7

• Daemon404

  DAMN YOU DELL! DAMN YOU!

  17.8.2005 07:42 #8

• anahaevia

  I'm not trying to bash Dell but I can agree with you guys, I bought a Dell and wanted to replace my keyboard because of a fauly key and they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about...I had to buy a non-Dell keyboard.

  17.8.2005 08:59 #9

• nonoitall

  Same story. Dell makes good stuff, but if you ever have a problem, you're better off researching it yourself and fixing it yourself. Every single time I called up with a problem or something, I could tell the person on the other end of the line knew less than I did and was just reading 1, 2, 3 troubleshooting steps out of a book or something (when I could understand what they were saying, that is - I have nothing against the people of India, but their accent *is* a little tricky to understand). As far as the quality of their PCs, my only complaint is that they don't give people the option of AMD CPUs.

  17.8.2005 10:20 #10

• mxndemon

  dell screwed me bad i thought i was getting a deal for a 800$ pc only ...turns out theres no AGP or PCI Express slot WTF WTF WTF ???? yeah its true they dont offer AMD .. dang indians wanted to charge me 35 $ late fee when my bill was due in 7 days outsourcing sucks but hey thats how they cut costs and make profit

  17.8.2005 11:41 #11

• Teken

  Glad to know others have experienced first hand the poor aszz tech support, which Dell offers their customers.
  
  Like the previous poster has stated, with respect to out sourced tech support. *IF*, your clientel / target audience is Engish speaking.
  
  Then, the technical support representatives should also be fluent in English, and have proper command of verbally communicating in that target language(s).
  
  Otherwise, you're simply making a situation worse, than it has to be !!!
  
  With respect to the reading off the *how to trouble shoot guide* You hit the nail on the head.
  
  They actually do that, aprox. 35% of the tech staff think out side of the box as they say. The remainder are drones, without any command of trouble shooting skills.
  
  The only reason I have Dell computers is because they are standard issue in our corporation and we must use their 1-800 for any parts replacement or returns.
  
  Dealing with them is like pulling teeth !!!
  
  Dell = Piss Poor Support / Service
  
  Regards
  
  EVIL Teken . . .
  
  
  
  
  

  17.8.2005 12:47 #12

• peanuts2

  Dell's are alright,But I personally would build a computer over buying any manufactured brand out there.I built mine and it suits me well.Much better than a dell.What dell needs to do is just pay interVideo their royalty fees for having there app on their new systems instead of copying their patented software.If I didn't build a computer I would of bought a Dell.But I like to have SATA hard drives and raid and PCI-E on a mobo and a graphics card thats not integrated.Dells are nice systems though, use them at work.

  17.8.2005 22:02 #13

• anahaevia

  Just to let everyone know here, never buy a computer from Dell with Windows Media Center 2005 pre-installed. They give you this 1800 number to call and not even that helps, its more like a run-around. I had to fix it myself!!

  18.8.2005 16:16 #14

• hobo4430

  as we talk about Dell from hell lets stop to see what they are all about,
  first they done make a computer at all they make a first class mess and a lot of money doing it
  second their tech support does suck and as a small computer company in oregon if I gave out support like that I would be out of business
  
  third lets look at the priceing they have and how they can do it
  A) they buy the parts by the train load so they dont have to pay high dollar makeing INTELL large sales
  B) the parts they use are not what I would call current and that thing they call BIOS well if all computers were dell we would go back to paper they get a intell mother board make some changes add the bios chip made for them LIKE MIKEL DELL was some kind of guru and then put it out for sell,
  Intell made some changes to the CPU ID's and that forced dell to now tell you what kind of cpu you are getting, but not every one knows what FRONT SIDE BUSS is or what it does you like speed then you need to know this befor you buy any computer.
  C) why buy a mass made computer when you can get one made better with a small business, you get personal attion to your needs and let me assure you we dont do 1000 computers and hour like the big boys do but we do do it better
  D) has any one really looked at the quality of the hard ware? to my best knoladge the intell celeron is not a P-4 no matter what you do, and what is with the 5400 rpm hard drives they use? I thought they were a thing in the past.
  E) and lastly lets look at the enduser dont you guys read the paper? I dont want to step on you or any thing like that I dont even want to make you mad at me but come on do a little research on what ever product you buy not just computers but every thingget prepaired bufor you buy their is a lot to do with DELL on the news in the paper on-line, cheap is cheap does build it your self put quality and pride in ownership back into your life
  
  As for India heck they are just trying to make a liveing like the rest of us but come on at least they could know what they are talking about and it isnt just dell look at microsoft ATI nvidia products they all use out of country support, so dont take it out on just dell lets get it back home where it belongs in the good old USA.
  and last but not least AMD is good and Intell is just as good that should be a users choice so it is up to you to get what you want dont sucker in to getting a DELL FROM HELL be a self builder and any computer shop worth its weight will assist you in building the computers of your dreams but it will coust you and the product will be better and youll know what you have and have a lot more pride in it and your self for doing it that way

  19.8.2005 06:52 #15

• djgizmo

  Thats your own fault for not researching the product. Yea, they do cut costs, but their product description is 99.9% dead on. Tech lvl1 is rough, but once it gets escalated to lvl2, it comes back to US call center.
  
  I build my own pcs, but I'd buy a dell over compaq, hp, or ibm any day of the week.
  Quote:dell screwed me bad i thought i was getting a deal for a 800$ pc only ...turns out theres no AGP or PCI Express slot WTF WTF WTF ???? yeah its true they dont offer AMD .. dang indians wanted to charge me 35 $ late fee when my bill was due in 7 days outsourcing sucks but hey thats how they cut costs and make profit

  19.8.2005 09:44 #16

• hobo4430

  you need to look at the product5 DELL is not honest with theirs and that 299.00 value is all messed up I dont think you have really looked at the product. The better ones are big $$$$$$ and you can get more for the bucks if you build it your self or have some one else build it , and another point to look at you dont get a windows xp cd with a DELL any more something a small business doesnt dare do no disk? what is that and hod are they able to get around it? look into it and see for your self

  19.8.2005 11:32 #17

• nonoitall

  Of course you get more for your buck if you build it yourself. Dell wouldn't make any money if they only sold their PCs for the price of materials. When compared with all the other PC manufacturers out there, though, Dell is by far the best (I even say this after dealing with their awful tech support). Sure, now I'd rather build my own PC - but only because I know how. If I didn't have the knowledge needed to build my own PC (and LOTS of people don't) Dell would almost definitely be my first choice (I say almost because maaaaybe I'd try Compaq, but only because they sell AMD - nothing to do with machine quality). They don't try to cheat you with sub-standard parts that break down a day after the warrenty terminates or anything like that. Not a single part in mine has ever had a problem in the 3-1/2 years I've owned it, and I don't go easy on my PCs.

  19.8.2005 21:19 #18

• coyote870

  "Dell's are alright,But I personally would build a computer over buying any manufactured brand out there.I built mine and it suits me well.Much better than a dell.What dell needs to do is just pay interVideo their royalty fees for having there app on their new systems instead of copying their patented software.If I didn't build a computer I would of bought a Dell.But I like to have SATA hard drives and raid and PCI-E on a mobo and a graphics card thats not integrated.Dells are nice systems though, use them at work."
  
  Actually I have a Dell 8400 that has two Seagate 160 gb harddrives in raid array. It also has PCI-E x16 slot that is holding a x800 pro vid card. Just dont think it is right when Dell is made out to be behind times when it comes to tech. The only problem I have ever had with this pc is a stick of the ddr 2 went bad. I received a new stick from Dell the very next day. This pc is used approx 4 hrs a day for editing video. I have an old Dell 4550 at home that is still going strong. Haven't ever had to replace any parts on it. Guess its just like a car...you get a Monday morning or Friday evening car, your gonna have problems.

  20.8.2005 19:56 #19

• m_towell

  I haven't have experience with Dell, so I'm going to have to take everyone's word for it, that they've got bad service, etc.
  
  But I hope that they win against InterVideo.
  
  "Method and apparatus for integrating personal computer and electronic device functions" can mean anything. This is so broad that it should never have been allowed to be patented in the first place.
  
  They might as well sue all the makers of keyboards that have the multimedia buttons on them (oh, I shouldn't give InterVideo any ideas, should I?)

  21.8.2005 02:53 #20