TIVO TiVo Corporation

Rovi Corp. filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Comcast Corp. after failing to come to terms on a new licensing agreement.

Shares of Rovi fell 19% to $16.70 in morning trading in New York as the entertainment-data company makes a significant amount of revenue from its licensing agreements with Comcast and other video distributors.

Rovi makes technology used in electronic TV guides, DVRs and video-on-demand services. It also holds more than 5,000 related patents and generates a majority of its revenue through patent-licensing agreements.

The company had been working to negotiate a new contract with Comcast. In a February regulatory filing, Rovi said the contract would expire in March.

"After numerous attempts at negotiations, Rovi was left with no choice but to defend its intellectual property from unlicensed use," Chief Executive Tom Carson said.

The lawsuit alleges that Comcast is violating 14 of its U.S. patents, including ones related to remote recording and search.

Comcast declined to comment. Shares of Comcast slid 0.5% to $60.79.

In February, Rovi said it expected to renew its agreement with Comcast but didn't include the revenue in its forecast. Friday, the company said that because it didn't include Comcast in its forecast, its financial estimates wouldn't change.

Rovi also has been working to renew other contracts. In September, Rovi extended its contract with Time Warner Cable Inc. and in December it reached an agreement with AT&T Inc. through 2022.

Revenue from AT&T, Time Warner Cable and Comcast was responsible for 27% of Rovi's total annual revenue in 2015.

Last week, the New York Times reported that Rovi was in advanced discussions to acquire TiVo Inc.

Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 01, 2016 11:35 ET (15:35 GMT)

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