Sportvision Inc. v. MLB Advanced Media LP

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER   Plaintiffs Sportvision, Inc. and SportsMEDIA Technology Corp. (“SMT”) bring this action against Defendant MLB Advanced Media, LP (“Advanced Media”), asserting claims for patent infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of contract. (Am. Cmplt. (Dkt. No. 26)) Plaintiffs’ claims arise from the parties’ abandoned joint venture to “capture, collect, market and disseminate” pitch data from Major League Baseball (“MLB”) games using Plaintiffs’ PITCHf/x technology. (See id. 107) Defendant Advanced Media has moved to compel arbitration of Plaintiffs’ misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract claims, and moved to dismiss Plaintiff’s patent infringement claim. (Def. Mot. (Dkt. No. 43)) For the reasons stated below, Defendant’s motions will be denied. BACKGROUND¹ I. THE PARTIES As alleged in the Amended Complaint, Sportvision creates “innovative graphic enhancements of sports objects and graphic visualizations of sports elements” (Am. Cmplt. (Dkt. No. 26) 3), and SMT develops “real-time on-screen graphics, tickers, clock-and-score, virtual insertions[,] and social media integration for live televised sport and entertainment events.” (Id. 50) On October 4, 2016, SMT acquired all of Sportvision’s outstanding stock. (Id. 53) Defendant Advanced Media is a limited partnership of MLB club owners, which manages and directs MLB’s digital properties. (Id.

54-55) II. THE PITCHf/x SYSTEM AND THE ENDEAVOR CONTRACT In 1999, ESPN and Sportvision engineers collaborated on an idea to create a new system capable of (1) generating and inserting a virtual strike zone graphic, custom-sized for each batter, during broadcasts of MLB games; and (2) generating and inserting a virtual pitch location graphic showing the location of where the last pitch crossed home plate relative to the virtual strike zone. (Id. 64) ESPN called this proposed on-air enhancement the “K-Zone.” (Id. 66) After approximately eighteen months, Sportvision completed development of the K-Zone system, and ESPN began using it on July 1, 2001. (Id.