Roku Remote-Control Patent Claim Falls in Smart-TV Tech Fight

Roku Inc. failed to convince a US patent tribunal to preserve the lone surviving claim of a remote-control patent after the Federal Circuit sent the dispute over smart-TV remotes back for further review.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidated claim 11 of US Patent No. 8,378,875 in a final written decision issued Wednesday, siding with a challenge brought by Universal Electronics Inc. and affiliated entities. The board, an arm of the US Patent and Trademark Office, found the claim obvious in light of earlier published remote-control designs.

• The board said one earlier-published remote-control design taught reinstalling a combined set ...