Verizon has filed a patent-infringement complaint to the International Trade Commission against Cablevision. The dispute centers around set-top boxes.
Verizon wants to stop new Cablevision customers from getting their boxes. The patents relate to how a customer can download videos from the boxes and use them for social networking.
"Each of these five patents is important to Verizon's success in the highly competitive fields of digital video and entertainment services and communications services," according to the complaint Verizon filed.
Cablevision fired back in a statement, saying, "It is becoming increasingly clear that Verizon is having difficulty competing on the merits in the marketplace, so they are resorting to filing lawsuits and pursuing regulatory bailouts.”
Contention between the two companies isn’t new. Most recently, they’ve been battling over Verizon’s access to HD sports programming on Cablevision’s MSG Network.
