OV, Vivotek reach agreement

RESTON, Va.—Video analytics provider Object Video announced in June that it has signed a patent licensing agreement with Vivotek. Meanwhile, its patent battle with major video surveillance providers Samsung and Bosch will continue, with an International Trade Commission trial scheduled to begin this week.

Earlier this year, OV announced that it had signed similar licensing agreements with Sony and Tyco's American Dynamics.

OV CEO Raul Fernandez said Vivotek's decision to do a portfolio-wide agreement speaks to the fact that more and more products will be built with video analytics already onboard or will be video-analytic enabled.

Fernandez said the discussion between Vivotek and OV was prompted by OV's amnesty offer, which it announced just before ISC West.

OV is suing Samsung and Bosch through one legal process with the ITC, and it announced last month that it had filed suit against Pelco in U.S. District Court in Virginia.  

The five-day ITC trial with Samsung and Bosch will start on July 18, Fernandez said. A judgment will not be announced until November, however.

Fernandez is optimistic that OV will prevail in the trial. “[We're saying that their products] made outside the U.S. have features [for which we] have patents. … They're attacking the patents [and saying they're not valid],” Fernandez said. “But only one [claim] has to survive. One claim does it all … it leads to an injunction of the product. It's a highly risky proposition.”

Fernandez said OV will be announcing another agreement in the near future.

Samsung, Bosch and Pelco have previously declined to comment on the OV lawsuits, saying that they do not comment on ongoing litigation.