Legal
Couple Sues Comcast After Xfinity Security System Fails
While most large incumbent ISPs have rushed head-first into the home security and home automation market, few of those companies have been willing to specify how many users have signed up for such services – suggesting they’re not yet seeing quite the uptake they’d like. One other threat has now arisen for ISPs looking to be home security experts: lawsuits.
U.S. Patent Office Questions Validity of Utility Associates? Boykin ?556 Patent and Institutes Inter Partes Review
Digital Ally, Inc. (NASDAQ: DGLY), which develops, manufactures and markets advanced video surveillance products for law enforcement, homeland security and commercial applications, announced that it has been informed that the United States Patent Office has granted its request to examine the validity of certain claims of United States Patent No. 6,831,556 that was issued to Boykin (the "556 patent"), which is owned by Utility Associates, Inc.
Vivint Protects Its Intellectual Property With Intellectual Ventures Partnership
With Vivint this summer launching Vivint Sky, a new cloud-based smart home solution featuring the company’s own control panel and software, an announcement this week that Vivint has taken steps to protect its intellectual property with patents really is not surprising. Vivint has entered into a long-term partnership with Intellectual Ventures (IV), based in Bellevue, Wash., IV announced Sept. 16. The company is one of the nation’s largest patent holders in the world, according to CNNMoney.
Icontrol Networks Files Patent Infringement Lawsuits Against Zonoff and SecureNet Technologies for Infringing Home Automation Patents
"Icontrol has invested more than a decade and many millions of dollars in research and development, and this investment has generated technology that we believe is now fundamental in leading home automation and security networks," said Bob Hagerty, CEO of Icontrol Networks. "We have filed today’s actions to safeguard our investment in the backbone of Icontrol’s connected home platform. We are committed to protecting our intellectual property and the advantages it provides to our partners and customers."
MOBOTIX Prevails in Patent Dispute: USPTO Cancels Patent
MOBOTIX Corp., New York, prevailed again in a patent dispute with San Antonio, Texas-based e-Watch Inc. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted MOBOTIX Corp.?s request and determined that all claims of U.S. Pat. No. 6,970,183 challenged by MOBOTIX Corp. are not patentable.
Iowa Class Action Suit Filed Over Traffic Cameras
A class-action lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is challenging automated traffic cameras that City officials say save lives and reduce crashes. The cameras came under fire after the Iowa Department of Transportation said two Interstate 380 speed cameras —two of the most productive in the traffic enforcement program— don?t comply with state rules requiring at least 1,000 feet between a camera and speed limit change.
Chicago to Settle Police Abuse Lawsuit for $150,000
Surveillance video caught a cop abusing a handcuffed woman during a raid. – Last year, security camera footage caught a police officer slapping and verbally abusing a handcuffed, kneeling woman during the raid of a Chicago tanning salon. This week, the Chicago City Council Finance Committee approved a $150,000 settlement of a lawsuit filed by the woman against the Chicago Police Department.
NYPD Officers to Begin Wearing Body Cameras as Part of Settlement
Sixty New York City police officers will wear body cameras as part of a pilot program in the wake of a federal lawsuit [see SecurityHive’s original article here.] challenging the department’s controversial stop-and-frisk tactics and the recent death of Eric Garner during an arrest, city officials said. Police Commissioner William Bratton announced the program Thursday, saying officers in at least one precinct in each of New York City’s five boroughs will begin wearing the surveillance devices.
Ohio Attorney General Won?t Release Surveillance Video of Walmart Shooting
The events leading to the death of John Crawford III on Aug. 5 are disputed: the Beavercreek, Ohio police officers who shot Crawford claim that the young black man in Wal-Mart was waving around what appeared to be an AR-15 rifle (but was actually a BB/pellet rifle) and would not abandon the weapon when asked. An attorney for Crawford’s family claims that Crawford was talking on a cell phone and leaning on the toy gun, when the police officers shot him.
Judge Allows Video in Toledo Chop Shop Case
A video camera mounted on a telephone pole overlooking a purported central Toledo chop shop for more than four months was legal, a federal judge ruled, though investigators still should have sought a warrant before installing it. [ See the original article posted August 12 here .]
Digital Ally Receives VuLink Patent, Provides Automatic Body Cam Activation & in-Car Video System Linking
Digital Ally, Inc. (Nasdaq: DGLY), which develops, manufactures and markets advanced video surveillance products for law enforcement, homeland security and commercial applications, today announced that it has been notified by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (?USPTO?) that its initial patent (No. 8,781,292) on its VuLink™ connectivity system has been approved and will issue on July 15, 2014. The Company also announced that it has begun shipping the new product to law enforcement customers.
Can You Film Accidents Then Sell the Videos to the Drivers
[Forum Discussion:] We have a couple dozen intersections where wrecks happen about every 10 days. I can set a price based on the seriousness of the wreck and how much the person not at fault may be able to gain in a suit. Say as an example. The other day at one of these intersections a dump truck is thought to have run a red light and hit a car in which a mother and two kids were all injured. The dump truck was loaded and was trying to make a yellow light. The family injured would stand to gain a lot of money in a suit in this instance.
NYPD Urged To Step Up Body-Worn Camera Pilot After Chokehold Death
Amid accusations of excessive force and increasing civilian video of police activity, New York officers may wear cameras while on duty. Had the death of 43-year-old Eric Garner not been caught on film, calls to outfit New York Police Department officers with cameras might have quietly faded. Instead, a bystander captured Garner locked in a […]
South Carolina Ramps Up Tech To Enforce School Bus Law
South Carolina is getting serious about penalizing drivers who pass a stopped school bus, writes Seanna Adcox of Associated Press. Now, a camera installed on the school bus can be used to prove that a driver has illegally passed a school bus. Before this, a policeman had to witness such an event in order to […]
Video Evidence In Chop-Shop Case Challenged
Around the clock for more than four months, federal investigators watched the goings-on at a purported chop shop in central Toledo, Ohio, with a high-tech video camera that was mounted atop a telephone pole. Attorneys for Michael G. Wymer, the alleged leader of the operation, have asked U.S. District Judge James Carr to suppress the […]
Ex-Lowell MA Library Aide Claims Foul Over City’s Surveillance
Former Pollard Memorial Library Assistant Diane Cloutier says the city of Lowell’s surveillance of her constitutes an invasion of privacy. The city’s hiring of private investigators to covertly track employees suspected of wrongdoing has uncovered fraud and led to disciplinary measures in a number of cases. But for the first time, Lowell’s use of investigators […]
UNITED STATES v. CEJAS: Use Of Video Surveillance Challenge
This August 1, 2014, U.S. Court of Appeals (Seventh Circuit) decision set a solid precedent on the admissibility of video surveillance, even when that recorded video surveillance feed has technical issues. So much of the video surveillance industry is set so that in the event one needs to prove to a legal authority something did […]
Revolutionary Concepts Announces It Has Identified First Group Of Companies That Violated Its Patents
Revolutionary Concepts Inc., (OTCPink: REVO), a publicly traded company that develops online mobile video software and remote security communication systems, announced that it has been searching for companies that have infringed on its intellectual property and has identified the first group of companies that have violated its patents. The Company plans to legally pursue these […]
Honeywell: Patent Issued For Managing Video Data
Patent originally filed on November 9, 2011, was published online on July 22, 2014. The patent’s assignee for patent number 8787725 is Honeywell International Inc. (Morristown, NJ). ABSTRACT – Described herein are systems and methods for managing video data. Embodiments are described by reference to a Digital Video Management (DVM) system, for example methods for […]
McDonald’s Loses $27M In Security Case
McDonald?s Corp. (MCD) lost a $27 million jury verdict in Texas over a claim that lax security at one of its restaurants led to the deaths of two teenagers, an award litigators say is unlikely to survive appeal. The victims in the case were Denton James Ward, 18, who was beaten to death by a […]