Dish Network 2013 Annual Report Download - page 53

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novel legal issues or unsettled legal theories to be presented or a large number of parties (as with many patent-
related cases). For these cases, however, management does not believe, based on currently available information,
that the outcomes of these proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, though the
outcomes could be material to our operating results for any particular period, depending, in part, upon the operating
results for such period.
c4cast.com, Inc.
On May 7, 2012, c4cast.com, Inc. filed a complaint against us and our wholly-owned subsidiary Blockbuster
L.L.C., in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging infringement of United States
Patent No. 7,958,204 (the “204 patent”), which is entitled “Community-Selected Content.” The 204 patent relates
to systems, methods and techniques for providing resources to participants over an electronic network. On August
29, 2013, c4cast.com, Inc. dismissed the action with prejudice, pursuant to a settlement under which we made an
immaterial payment in exchange for a license to us and EchoStar of certain patents and patent applications.
California Institute of Technology
On October 1, 2013, the California Institute of Technology (“Caltech”) filed complaints against us and our wholly-
owned subsidiaries DISH Network L.L.C. and dishNET Satellite Broadband L.L.C., as well as Hughes
Communications, Inc. and Hughes Network Systems, LLC, which are wholly-owned subsidiaries of EchoStar, in
the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleges infringement of
United States Patent Nos. 7,116,710 (the “710 patent”), 7,421,032 (the “032 patent”), 7,916,781 (the “781 patent”)
and 8,284,833 (the “833 patent”), each of which is entitled “Serial Concatenation of Interleaved Convolutional
Codes forming Turbo-Like Codes.” Caltech alleges that encoding data as specified by the DVB-S2 standard
infringes each of the asserted patents.
We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the
asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction
that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict
with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.
CRFD Research, Inc. (a subsidiary of Marathon Patent Group, Inc.)
On January 17, 2014, CRFD Research, Inc. (“CRFD”) filed a complaint against us, our wholly-owned subsidiaries
DISH DBS and DISH Network L.L.C., EchoStar, and its wholly-owned subsidiary EchoStar Technologies L.L.C.,
in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging infringement of United States Patent No.
7,191,233 (the “233 patent”). The 233 patent is entitled “System for Automated, Mid-Session, User-Directed,
Device-to-Device Session Transfer System,” and relates to transferring an ongoing software session from one device
to another. CRFD alleges that our Hopper and Joey set-top boxes infringe the 233 patent. On the same day, CRFD
filed similar complaints against AT&T Inc., Comcast Corp., DirecTV, Time Warner Cable Inc., Cox
Communications, Inc., Level 3 Communications, Inc., Akamai Technologies, Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp. and
Limelight Networks, Inc. CRFD is an entity that seeks to license an acquired patent portfolio without itself
practicing any of the claims recited therein.
We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the
asserted patent, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction
that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict
with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.
Custom Media Technologies LLC
On August 15, 2013, Custom Media Technologies LLC (“Custom Media”) filed complaints against us, AT&T Inc.,
Charter Communications, Inc., Comcast Corp., Cox Communications, Inc., DirecTV, Time Warner Cable Inc. and
Verizon Communications, Inc., in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging
infringement of United States Patent No. 6,269,275 (the “275 patent”). The 275 patent, which is entitled “Method
and System for Customizing and Distributing Presentations for User Sites,” relates to the provision of customized