The suit, filed at U.S. District Court in Tyler, Texas, names adult studios Wicked Pictures (SBO Pictures Inc.), Vivid Entertainment Group, Playboy Enterprises Inc., Club Jenna (CJI Entertainment Inc.), Larry Flynt Publications Inc., Hustler Video, VCA Pictures, Penthouse Digital Media Productions Inc., DNA Movies and Bang Productions Inc.
It also names nearly every major Hollywood studio, including Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc., Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. and The Walt Disney Co., among others. It also includes scores of independents, as well.
The patents — U.S. Patents No. 5,684,514 and No. 5,977, 992 — cover a "Method for Assembling Content Addressable Video." The patents were filed in 1994 and 1997.
Among the characteristics, the patents are "a system and method for assembling or generating content addressable video based on storing a plurality of frames of video data at addressable storage locations."
The plaintiff, Patent Harbor LLC, is seeking in its complaint compensatory damages and post-judgment royalties.
U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis is assigned to the case.