When Anti-Pirates Sue Each Other Over Pirating Each Other's Technology...

from the this-gets-fun dept

Fri, May 21st 2010 5:32pm — Mike Masnick

Well, this is fun. A tech company in Germany is claiming that movie studio Warner Bros. has "pirated" its "anti-piracy" technology. No, seriously. You can read the full complaint (pdf) below:

It's actually a patent infringement lawsuit, but unlike most patent infringement lawsuits, the company suing, Medien Patent Verwaltung (MPV), claims that it actually met with Warner Bros. and "disclosed the technology" to the company. While I have to admit that I find it quite amusing to see Warner Bros. accused of "pirating" its "anti-piracy" technology, when you look at the details, it seems like a typically ridiculous patent scenario, with some random company suing for patent infringement over something another company came up with independently.

Making things even more amusing? In the lawsuit, MPV mis-identifies its own patent, incorrectly using the title of a patent.. held by Warner Bros! MPV's patent 7,187,633 is titled "Marking of a data medium material for information intended for reproduction." Warner Bros., though, has a different patent, 7,206,409, titled "Motion picture anti-piracy coding." But in the filing... MPV refers to the title of its own patent as "Motion picture anti-piracy coding" and never mentions Warner's actual patent by that name. Ooooops. Oh, and the WB patent? Filed before MPVs...

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: anti-piracy technology, movies, patents, piracy, watermarking
Companies: medien patent verwaltung, mpv, warner bros.

16 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Overcast (profile), 21 May 2010 @ 6:09pm

Just..... LOL
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Modplan (profile), 21 May 2010 @ 6:23pm

Does this mean we'll start seeing DRM for DRM?

Before you can verify the product you bought is legitimate, you have to verify that the verification scheme that is attached to the product is legitimate.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 21 May 2010 @ 6:27pm

Re:
Meanwhile, the rest of us are doing, y'know, actual stuff.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
NAMELESS.ONE, 21 May 2010 @ 6:29pm

and then
we have to verify that your internet was secure using a feature to verify that your ip is yours and that your underwear is not wrapped around your head
[ link to this | view in thread ]
NAMELESS.ONE, 21 May 2010 @ 6:31pm

and the grass is always greener
it could be argued that software that stops circulation and sharing of technology and ideas , can't thus be patented because patents are supposed to advance technology and advance and share knowledge
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2010 @ 6:41pm

The patent assigned to the Swiss company was filed with the EPO in July 2003, and then in the US and German Patent Offices in early to mid-2004. Thus, the application for the patent was filed earlier in time than the date for the application that was assigned to WB.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2010 @ 10:54pm

Hope they both lose
Even though that's not possible.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Trav, 21 May 2010 @ 11:40pm

Oh well
Warner and the like get to much money as it is, stupid overblown industry.
We live in a world where some loser can be a world famous actor doing shit all and making millions, and where geniuses who invent/ find cures for diseases and the like get nothing and no fame.

Stupid world.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2010 @ 12:50am

Re:
I heard you hate drm, so we drm'd the drm so it can disable legal drm while it disables your legal game.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Richard (profile), 22 May 2010 @ 1:23am

Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude
[ link to this | view in thread ]
BearGriz72 (profile), 22 May 2010 @ 1:18pm

Re: Hope they both lose
Get both patents tossed !
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TPBGirl, 22 May 2010 @ 3:31pm

This is good!
I will come back later when I get through lmao! LUV the comments to! :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
staff1, 24 May 2010 @ 7:22am

shock
"...but unlike most patent infringement lawsuits, the company suing, Medien Patent Verwaltung (MPV), claims that it actually met with Warner Bros. and "disclosed the technology" to the company"

I am completely shocked and dismayed that a large company would steal from a small company. What is the world coming to??
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Vic Kley, 24 May 2010 @ 8:39am

Mike the Judicial Scholar (NOT)
A legal filing of 22 pages without a single mistake is unlikely. Until the trial is over it is impossible to know what errors will be corrected or actual misrepresentations revealed. Many times the complaint is amended and corrected before the trial.

This document does not in any way show us the basis or even claimed basis for independent invention by Warner nor should it! Warner has to do that not the Plaintiff! How you, Mike can assert such a claim without apparent evidence of any kind suggests foolish blather or a payoff from Warner (perhaps both).

You should be embarrassed by this Mike. In that you clearly are not any temptation anyone reading your worthless blather you be warned off by the following announcement.

THIS BLOG FAILS ALL TESTS OF RATIONAL THOUGHT AND CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THE TRUTH
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Michael, 25 May 2010 @ 3:19am

Re: Mike the Judicial Scholar (NOT)
Are you on something? Of course the document being filed by MPV suing Warner for a patent violation is not going to directly demonstrate that Warner came up with a similar idea independently. That's the opposite of what they are trying to extort money for.

The evidence is in the mistake pointed out. MPV has at least read about the Warner patent for something similar (because they mis-used the name of the Warner patent). They avoided discussing this patent that they know about. The Warner patent was filed before the MPV patent. Any of this making sense to you?

Nope - there is not conclusive evidence yet. I guess that is why Mike wrote: "it seems like a typically ridiculous patent scenario" rather than: "there is proof that this is a bogus lawsuit".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
machEng (profile), 27 Jul 2010 @ 4:14am

I don't see how MPV can have a case. Cinema film has had anti-piracy code for more than the 12yrs I've been in the business.

Both Technicolor and Deluxe have used systems to mark film and to record serial numbers against cinemas

MPV, me thinks, are just trying-it-on in the hope they can make a fast buck or million
[ link to this | view in thread ]