Jury Rules for TiVo vs. Dish
By Steve Donohue -- Multichannel News, 4/14/2006 10:01:00 AM
TiVo Inc. will be able to use its $74 million patent-suit victory over EchoStar Communications Corp. as leverage to sell operators its digital-video-recorder system.
But even if others follow Comcast Corp., TiVo CEO Tom Rogers told Multichannel News last month that integration issues with TiVo -- which was hurt when the cable industry began selling its own DVRs and creating interoperability standards without TiVo at the table -- remain a challenge.
Thursday’s decision from a Texas U.S. District Court jury was nonetheless a huge score for TiVo, coming one day after it announced a three-year extension of its DirecTV Inc. contract.
TiVo said it will seek an injunction that could block EchoStar from selling its own DVRs.
“This is the first step in a very long process, and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail,” EchoStar said in a prepared statement.
“Among other things, we believe the patent -- as interpreted in this case -- is overly broad given the technology in existence when TiVo filed its patent,” the direct-broadcast satellite provider added. “We believe the decision will be reversed either through post-trial motions or on appeal. Additionally, the Patent Office is in the process of re-examining TiVo's patent, having determined that there is a substantial question concerning the validity of the patent.”
Comcast agreed last March to market a premium DVR service under the TiVo brand by the end of 2006.
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