DISH Denied Appeal in TiVo Suit

ALVISO/ENGLEWOOD, October
7: DISH Network has to pay TiVo $104 million in damages after losing an appeal
in the DVR manufacturer’s patent infringement suit.

The legal battle between
the two companies has been ongoing for some time. TiVo sued the platform and
won its case, maintaining that DISH had infringed on the TiVo “time warp”
software in its DVRs, which allow two programs to be recorded at the same time.
DISH appealed the ruling with the Supreme Court, which denied the petition
yesterday. “We will pay TiVo approximately $104 million (the amount the jury
awarded in 2006 plus interest),” DISH said in a statement. “The money is in an
escrow account and will be released to TiVo in the next few days."

DISH noted that the
decision doesn’t affect customers’ usage of DISH DVRs. Judge David Folsom, who
is presiding over the case, must still decide if there are further damages to
be awarded TiVo, as DISH is still using DVRs with some version of the time warp
software. “We believe that the design-around does not infringe TiVo's patent
and that TiVo's pending motion for contempt should be denied,” DISH said.

—By Mansha Daswani