TiVo Wins Damages in DISH Patent Suit

ALVISO: A Texas court has ordered DISH Network to pay TiVo some $200 million in damages as part of the DVR company’s long-running patent infringement suit against the DTH platform.

The court awarded the damages payment because of DISH’s "continued violation of a court-ordered permanent injunction" on the patented DVR technology, TiVo says. The approximate $200 million in damages, together with attorney fees and costs incurred during the contempt proceedings, brings the total DISH must pay TiVo to about $400 million.

The sanction is equivalent to about $2.25 per DVR subscriber per month, reports indicate. TiVo had initially asked for a $1 billion in damages. DISH, in a statement, said it was pleased the court had thrown out TiVo’s initial sum. "While we disagree that any amount of sanctions was warranted, the decision confirms our belief that we designed around Tivo’s patent in good faith. We believe that we ultimately will prevail on appeal."

TiVo, meanwhile, recently filed similar suits against AT&T and Verizon, alleging that the telcos infringed on its patented DVR technology with the boxes being rolled out on the U-Verse and FiOS TV platforms.