BTG has been around for over 50 years, in various guises. It was originally set up in 1948 by the UK Government to commercialise publicly funded research. Initially known as the National Research Development Corporation, in 1981 it joined together with the National Enterprise Board to form BTG.
Over the years it has been responsible for patenting such inventions as the drug Interferon and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. In 1998 it became the exclusive licensee for a patented technology from inventor Richard Reisman, founder of Teleshuttle Corporation. At the time, Teleshuttle's technology was already being used by Blockbuster to automatically download monthly updates for the rental chain's Guide to Movies & Videos.
In June, Andy Burrows, BTG's Director of Investor Relations, confirmed that his company had been in talks for a few months with a number of companies regarding royalty arrangements, but the identities of those companies remained confidential until Wednesday when, citing a delay in entering into licensing agreements with BTG on commercially reasonable terms, BTG filed suit.
The first action, brought by BTG, Teleshuttle Corporation and Teleshuttle Technologies, targeted both Microsoft and Apple over alleged infringements of a patent which, according to BTG, covers the defendant's web-enabled software update technologies.
The case alleges that both Microsoft's and Apple's operating systems, as well as Microsoft's Office products, use the patented technologies. BTG is claiming unspecified damages and an injunction against future use of the technology.
The second suit targets Microsoft alone, alleging that the software giant has infringed upon Teleshuttle Technologies' patents covering Microsoft's active desktop and off-line browsing technologies. Again, unspecified damages are sought for past infringing activity as well as an injunction.
