Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Charter Communications Inc., the U.S. cable-television company controlled by billionaire Paul Allen, sued Verizon Communications Inc., alleging the phone company’s FiOS fiber-optic network infringes four patents.

Verizon, the U.S. telephone-services provider second in size only to AT&T Inc., should be ordered to pay damages and stop using the on-demand and other technologies without permission, Charter said in a complaint filed in federal court in Norfolk, Virginia.

Charter, based in St. Louis, is trying to stave competition in the cable market as it works to reduce $21 billion in debt. Verizon, based in New York, is spending $23 billion over seven years to expand the FiOS network, which offers phone, TV and Internet services.

“Verizon operates FiOS in territories throughout the U.S., including in markets where FiOS competes head-to-head with Charter’s cable television and other services,” Charter said in the complaint filed Dec. 31.

Bill Kula, a spokesman for Verizon, declined to immediately comment on the lawsuit.

Verizon sued Charter in February 2007 in federal court in Texarkana, Texas, claiming infringement of eight patents for providing telephone services on a data network. The case is still pending. The company’s FiOS network had recruited 1.6 million TV subscribers at the end of the third quarter, compared with Charter’s 5.5 million customers.

Stephen Edward Noona and John Bradley Reeves of Norfolk, Virginia-based Kaufman & Canoles represent Charter.

The case is Charter Communications Inc. v. Verizon Communications Inc., 3:08cv850, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Norfolk).

GM Receives Patent for Hybrid Vehicle Power Source Display

General Motors Corp., the automaker whose U.S. sales hit a 49-year low in 2008, received a U.S. patent for a hybrid vehicle display apparatus. The apparatus is intended to make it easier for drivers to understand how their vehicles are powered.

Patent 7,474,309, which was issued Jan. 6, covers a screen with icons to indicate the flow of energy between energy sources and energy destinations, according to the patent.

Drivers presently associate changes in engine sounds or fuel cell compression sounds with changes in power. In a hybrid, the flow of energy between vehicle components “may be confusing to a driver because, in a hybrid drive vehicle, the behavior of the energy sources may not directly correspond with vehicle acceleration or speed.”

The display screen covered by the patent has three icons spaced apart from each other, with one representing the first energy source; the second representing the second energy source, and the third representing the vehicle propulsion, according to the patent. The display can use color or other mechanisms to show the flow of energy between the two sources and the propulsion system.

GM applied for the patent in December 2003. No outside patent counsel is listed.

Companies Sued by AS&E Sanctioned for Patent Case Press Release

Two companies that provide airport security systems were sanctioned by a federal judge for issuing a “patently misleading” press release about the course of a patent case in which they’re defendants.

The companies, AutoClear LLC of Fairfield, New Jersey, and Control Screening LLC of Northvale, New Jersey, were sued for patent infringement in September 2007 by American Science & Engineering Inc. -- known as AS&E -- of Billerica, Massachusetts.

The patent at issue -- 5,313,511 -- is for X-ray imaging used in security systems.

U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson said the companies were “completely irresponsible” in issuing a misleading press release “on a nationally available widely read Internet site.” Defendants issued the “objectionable press release intentionally and in bad faith,” he wrote in an order filed in federal court in Norfolk, Virginia, Dec. 16.

The release, sent out over Business Wire Nov. 16, claimed the court “rejected American Science & Engineering Inc.’s motions for summary relief,” in a patent infringement case against AutoClear and Control Screening, according to court papers.

The release also said the patent office rejected claims of AS&E’s core patent. That statement was also false, Judge Jackson said in his ruling.

The defendant companies did send out a clarification statement on Business Wire within three days of the initial release, and told the court any misleading statements were unintentional. Jackson said he found it “difficult to believe that the issuance of this press release was accidental” and that defendants didn’t provide any excuse for “the misleading statements” about the patent office’s actions.

He ordered the defendant companies to issue a corrective press release and to pay AS&E $10,000 as partial payment for attorney fees incurred by the company in connection with the Nov. 16 press release.

In his most-recent ruling in the case, Jackson refused to admit testimony from a scientific expert hired by defendants. Jackson said that Thomas Matheson, a physicist, had “no relevant experience directly related to X-Ray imaging systems,” so found him “not qualified” to offer his opinions to the court.

The case is American Science and Engineering Inc. v. AutoClear LLC, 2:07-cv-00415-RAJ-FBS, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Norfolk).

Oracle and Alcatel-Lucent Near Agreement to End Patent Fight

Oracle Corp., the world’s second-largest software maker, is close to an agreement with Alcatel-Lucent SA to end a patent dispute over managing voice messages, e-mails and instant messaging.

Oracle sued Alcatel-Lucent in May, claiming the OmniTouch My Messaging system and other products infringe Oracle patents. It also sought a ruling that it didn’t owe Alcatel any patent royalties on Oracle products.

“Several draft agreements have been circulated between Oracle and Alcatel-Lucent in-house legal personnel” and the two sides “are continuing to work towards a possible resolution of the case,” Alcatel-Lucent said in a federal court filing yesterday in San Francisco, with Oracle’s consent.

The company asked that the case, which has been on hold since July, remain so for at least 30 days because the two sides are “in advanced settlement negotiations, which have resulted in agreement on the major terms of a settlement that would dispose of this case in its entirety.”

The court filing gave no indication of possible settlement terms. The litigation involved 13 patents and “very large companies with thousands of companies spread across the world,” Oracle said in the filing.

Alcatel-Lucent, the world’s biggest telecommunications equipment maker, wrote a letter in December 2007 claiming that Oracle’s Data Mining, E-mail Center, Data Guard and other products infringed its patents, according to the Oracle complaint.

Oracle, based in Redwood City, California, sued to challenge Alcatel-Lucent’s rights to any patent royalties on those products, and in turn accused the company of violating its patent rights. Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent countered by arguing that Oracle’s patents are invalid or not infringed.

Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Ward said the company cannot comment or speculate on how close it is to a settlement.

Deborah Hellinger, an Oracle spokeswoman, didn’t immediately respond to a voice-mail message.

No discovery -- the parties’ disclosure of relevant facts and documents -- has taken place in the suit, according to court papers.

The case is Oracle Corp. v. Alcatel-Lucent, 08-2363, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).

For more patent news from yesterday, click here.

Copyright

Radio One Sued over Voice Mail Broadcast, Sale on CD

Radio One Inc.’s Radio One of Texas II unit was sued for copyright infringement by a Texas woman who left a message on a company employee’s voicemail.

Radio One, based in Lanham, Maryland, is a radio broadcast company that mainly targets black listeners.

Rosiland Kelly said that after she left a voice-mail message for Radio One employee Kenneth Morris, he played the recording for Rickey Smiley, who hosts a radio show broadcast in the Texas market area at FM 97.9.

Smiley then aired the recording several times on his radio show, and, with the Breakwind Entertainment Inc. production company, included the call in a CD they sell that features funny or prank phone calls, Kelly said in her complaint. Smiley and Breakwind are co-defendants with Radio One.

The CD was sold without her permission or knowledge and she wasn’t compensated in any way, according to the complaint filed Jan. 6 in federal court in Dallas.

The recording put her “in a bad light” and as a result of the broadcast and sale of the CD containing her voicemail, her private life was made public, according to court papers.

The voice-mail broadcast and CD contained “facts that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities,” Kelly said in her pleadings. She claims she’s suffered “humiliation and hurt feelings” as a result of the broadcast and sale of the CD.

She asked the court for money damages, court costs and attorney feels

Kenneth S. Harter of Carrollton, Texas, represents Kelly.

The case is Kelly v. Smiley, 3:09-cv-00011-L, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas).

For more copyright news from yesterday, click here.

Trademark

‘Hybrid’ Trademarks Sought for Many Non-Automotive Products

When people hear the word “hybrid” these days, their most frequent association is with dual fuel-source vehicles such as Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius.

A number of the pending applications for use of the term are far afield of automotive applications, according to the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Fischer Gesellschaft mbH of Ried im Innkreis, Austria, has a pending application to use the term for skis.

Shake-n-Go Fashion Inc. of New York is requesting a “hybrid” trademark for wigs, hairpieces and hair extensions.

A.O. Smith Corp. of Milwaukee has a pending application to use the term for water heaters.

Hinoki Shinyaku Co. of Tokyo seeks to register the term for use on cosmetics.

BSH Home Appliances Corp. of Huntington Beach, California has a pending application to use the term for kitchen apparatus, including electric and gas cooking ovens.

IP Holdings Inc. of Grand Prairie requested a trademark on the term to be used for hearing aids.

Advanced Lighting Technologies Inc. of Solon, Ohio, is seeking a “hybrid” trademark for electric light bulbs and halogen capsules for light bulbs.

Cimarron Firearms Co. of Fredericksburg, Texas, wants to use the term.

One company has a pending “hybrid” trademark application relating to automobiles. A limousine service based in New York City is seeking to register the phrase “All hybrids all the time.” That company is New York Hybrid Car and Limousine Service Corp.

For more trademark news from yesterday, click here.

Trade Secrets/Industrial Espionage

X-Ray Optical Settles Trade Secrets Case Against Former Employee

X-Ray Optical Systems Inc., which accused a former employee of trying to “emasculate” its IP, settled the trade-secret case it brought against him.

U.S. District Judge Gary L. Sharpe signed the order dismissing the case on Dec. 22.

Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.

X-Ray Optical, based in East Greenbush, New York, had accused Muradin A. Kumakhov of opposing X-Ray Optical’s patents on which he was the inventor. He left the company to become a director of Unisantis GmbH, a competitor based in Geneva, Switzerland.

X-Ray Optical sought money damages of “at least $10 million,” according to court papers.

The New York company was represented by Christopher Massaroni of the McNamee, Lochner Law Firm of Albany, New York.

Kumakhov was represented by Edward S. Jou, John R. Fuisz, and Terri L. Chase of Chicago’s McDermott, Will & Emery.

The case is X-Ray Optical Systems Inc. v. Kumakhov, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York (Albany).

IP Moves

Blank Rome Hires Litigator William R. Cruse from Weil Gotshal

Blank Rome hired William R. Cruse for its litigation group, the Philadelphia-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

Cruse, who joins from New York’s Weil Gotshal & Manges, will practice from the firm’s Philadelphia office. He has litigated trademark, copyright and other commercial cases, including breach of contract and legal malpractice.

He has an undergraduate degree from Tufts University and a law degree from the University of Texas.

For Bloomberg articles by lawyers on intellectual property topics, click here.

For daily Bloomberg legal analysis, click here.

To contact the reporter on this story: Victoria Slind-Flor in Oakland, California, at vslindflor@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 8, 2009 07:11 EST