Widevine has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Verimatrix for unspecified damages. The lawsuit comes following attempts by Widevine to openly license its intellectual property to Verimatrix. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

In general, Widevine’s 7,165,175 patent describes and claims methods and systems for selectively encrypting different portions of data sent over a network. Specifically, Verimatrix’s content security solutions, such as the Verimatrix Content Authority System (VCAS), infringe on Widevine’s Apparatus, System and Method for Selectively Encrypting Different Portions of Data Sent Over A Network patent number 7,165,175. Verimatrix’s VCAS solutions—which have been sold throughout the world—practice Widevine’s selective encryption patent.

Moreover, Widevine alleges that Verimatrix has willfully infringed and continues to willfully infringe Widevine's patent rights. Widevine previously provided Verimatrix with the opportunity to openly license the selective encryption patent.

Verimatrix rejected the allegations of patent infringement made by its competitor Widevine. Verimatrix has yet to be formally served with the suit, but feels strongly that it must respond to the assertions made today in the press and elsewhere. Verimatrix is confident that its products and technologies do not infringe on Widevine's patents and will vigorously defend itself against Widevine's unsupported claims.

"We're outperforming Widevine both technically and in the marketplace. Our products are used by more operators and more subscribers around the world," said Tom Munro, CEO of Verimatrix. "Our products have been developed using our own intellectual property portfolio, and with key patent rights that we have licensed from several other industry leaders."