TiVo Inc. was awarded $73.9 million by a Texas jury on Thursday 13 April in a patent infringement lawsuit against satellite platform EchoSta Communications Inc.
TiVo claimed EchoStar violated its patent for a “multimedia time warping system” to pause, rewind or fast-forward live TV programs by recording them on a hard drive.
Lawyers for EchoStar, Dish’s parent, had countered in their closing arguments that the company invented its own digital video recorder without TiVo technology. They said TiVo is using EchoStar as an excuse for its own failure to compete against other makers of set-top boxes. TiVo, based in Alviso, Calif., has lost nearly $650 million in its nine-year history.
After the announcement of the legal victory for TiVo, the company’s shares bounced up some 22 percent . The news came just a day after TiVo inked an important agreement with DIRECTV, which used to offer TiVo players and has been rolling out its own since last year. As part of the deal, TiVo and DIRECTV agree not to assert patent claims against each other. Existing DIRECTV TiVo subscribers will also be able to continue to receive the TiVo service. The company has furthermore negotiated a DVR deal with cable giant Comcast.
