Gemstar-TV Guide Snags Mobile TV Deal with MediaFLO
Agreement Is TV Guide's First Patent-Licensing Deal in U.S. Market
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/18/2007 10:22:00 AM
Electronic-program-guide giant Gemstar-TV Guide International licensed its guide technology to mobile TV provider and Qualcomm subsidiary MediaFLO USA.The multiyear agreement includes patent-license rights related to interactive program guides for MediaFLO’s mobile-TV service, which is currently being marketed to consumers by Verizon Wireless and which will also be distributed by AT&T later this year. The agreement is Gemstar-TV Guide’s first such patent-licensing agreement in the U.S. mobile-TV arena, although it has licensed its intellectual property to mobile operators in Japan.
Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“We are very pleased that MediaFLO USA’s industry-leading FLO TV mobile-entertainment service will benefit from our video-guidance patents,” Gemstar-TV Guide CEO Rich Battista said in a statement. “This agreement with MediaFLO USA builds on our successful mobile activities in Japan and further signifies the value of our intellectual property to traditional and emerging platforms, including online, IPTV [Internet-protocol TV] and mobile.”
