EchoStar to Pay $100-Million-Plus to TiVo

LOS ANGELES: EchoStar Communications has been ordered to pay TiVo $103 million plus interest from a long-running patent dispute for lifting DVR software technology, adding to the original $105 million in penalties.

Courts ruled five years ago that EchoStar was infringing on TiVo’s "time warp patent," which covers its method for recording one program on its TV set-top DVR devices while a viewer watches another and stores the program for future use. That patent expires on July 30, 2018. EchoStar had made several attempts to appeal, but the court upheld its ruling. The courts found the company had violated an earlier injunction by attempting to develop a “workaround,” which it said still violated TiVo’s patent rights.

The company will now be required to shut off the infringing technology from its DVR recorders. And, furthermore, will not be allowed to attempt another “workaround” without informing the court first.

DISH Network and EchoStar released a statement regarding the recent outcome: "We are disappointed in the district court’s decision finding us in contempt. DISH Network will appeal, and will file a motion to stay the order with the Federal Circuit. We believe a stay is warranted and that we have strong grounds for appeal. Our engineers spent close to a year designing-around TiVo’s patent and removed the very features that TiVo said infringed at trial. Existing DISH Network customers with DVRs are not immediately impacted by these recent developments."