Judge Throws Out TRA's Infringement Claims (Again)

US District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin has thrown out TRA's patent infringement claims against Kantar for the second time in less than two months.

TiVo-owned TRA brought the suit against Kantar in 2011, claiming that the WPP-owned firm had infringed its patents while reviewing them as part of merger talks from which it later withdrew, subsequently launching a competing product called RapidView.

Scheindlin threw out the case in October, shortly after which TRA asked her to reconsider, claiming that she had granted the firm's earlier request for an oral argument but then issued the judgment before this had taken place. Later that month, Scheindlin appeared to concur and ordered that her previous decision be withdrawn from the record.

However, in a judgement last week, Scheindlin ruled that Kantar had not 'misappropriated' trade secrets, while also rejecting TRA's claim that Kantar had caused a massive drop in its share price before it was sold to TiVo for just $20m. TRA had claimed it might have been worth $199m without Kantar's interventions.

Scheindlin is still to decide on 'breach of contract' and 'fiduciary duty' charges, and a hearing will take place later this month to decide whether these claims should be referred to a New York State Court for further action.