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Roku Devices Allegedly Infringe 5 Universal Electronics Patents

Roku streaming players, remotes and TVs infringe five Universal Electronics remote-control patents, complained (in Pacer) Universal Thursday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California. One patent dates to 2011, another was granted March 24. The 2011 patent (7,969,514) describes…

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methods for setting up a universal remote “using interactive instructions,” said the complaint. Roku TVs have an embedded receiver for wirelessly accepting “communications from a remotely located controlling device” allegedly in violation of the newest patent (10,600,317). Roku streaming players have a transmitter for beaming “communications to a display device coupled to the controlled device,” also in violation of the patent, it contended. Universal put Roku “on notice” of its infringing practices before filing suit, the remote-control maker alleged: Roku patents cite Universal’s intellectual property 290 times. The defendant didn’t comment Friday.