ARRI and Rotolight settle patent lawsuits

Rotolight and ARRI have announced they have settled patent lawsuits.

A joint statement released by ARRI and Rotolight on 30 January said: “ARRI has agreed to a settlement with Rotolight, relating to Rotolight’s cinematic special effects ‘CineSFX®’ patent portfolio in the US, UK, and Europe. ARRI no longer contests the validity of Rotolight’s patents and has withdrawn its Inter Partes Review in the US accordingly. Simultaneously, Rotolight has withdrawn its US District patent court action against ARRI. All ARRI products will continue to be offered as always. ARRI and Rotolight respect intellectual property and value fair competition.”

In addition to the settlement agreed with ARRI, Rotolight has also successfully defended two other IPR cases relating to the same patents (IPR2022-00262 and IPR2022-00261) in the US, brought against it by Vitec Production Solutions Inc. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) found in Rotolights’ favour, denied the institution of their Inter Partes patent review (IPR), and reconfirmed the validity of the granted Rotolight CineSFX® patents.

Following the PTAB’s decision and lieu of a licensing agreement, Rotolight filed a District court patent infringement action against Videndum Productions Inc in Delaware in July 2022.