Dish Network has been ordered to pay about $200 million to TiVo in an ongoing patent dispute over DVR technology.
The lawsuit goes back to 2004, when TiVo sued EchoStar (now a part of the Dish Network) for violating a patent on a "multimedia time-warping system," which involved recording a program on one channel while watching another.
A jury in 2006 found that Dish's digital video recorders infringed upon a patent held by TiVo and ordered it to pay TiVo $73.9 million in damages. That ruling has been upheld in two separate federal appeals. Dish has said its engineers updated its software years ago to design around TiVo's patent and that they removed the features TiVo claims infringe on its patent. But the company hasn't made much progress with that argument. Dish was ordered to pay $103 million plus interest to TiVo in June for being in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction on selling DVRs with infringing technology.
In the latest salvo, TiVo sued for nearly $1 billion and claimed it was due all of Dish's DVR profits for the five-plus years the dispute has been ongoing, according to Bloomberg. Instead, U.S. District Judge David Folsom in Texarcana, Texas, on Friday awarded TiVo just under $200 million in total, saying the infringement wasn't willful and that Dish has made a good faith effort to design around the TiVo patent.
For their part, both companies are claiming the new ruling as a victory.
TiVo said in a statement, "We are pleased by the court's ruling to impose contempt sanctions of approximately $200 million against EchoStar for its continued violation of a court-ordered permanent injunction...We are confident that this ruling brings us closer to final resolution."
Dish Network, meanwhile, released this equally positive statement: "We are pleased that the district court rejected TiVo's request to award a billion dollars in sanctions and that it found that any violation of the injunction was not willful. 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."
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued an "office action" Monday rejecting two claims in TiVo's Multimedia Timewarping System (better known as the DVR) patent, the centerpiece of its legal battle with EchoStar.
That DVR is causing some trouble again.
(Credit: TiVo)According to the PTO, its preliminary finding rejects TiVo's patent Claims 31 and 61.
Claim 31 describes "a process for the simultaneous storage and play back of multimedia data." The claim discusses how TiVo's DVR captures video from a broadcast source, stores it in its hard drive, and allows users to play it back at their convenience.
Claim 61 is similar to Claim 31. It describes "an apparatus for the simultaneous storage and play back of multimedia data." The claim discusses how the TiVo handles stored shows and gives users the ability to control them on the device.
The patent itself, which features more than 60 claims, is a blueprint for how TiVo's DVR works. It discusses an "invention (that) allows the user to store selected television broadcast programs while the user is simultaneously watching or reviewing another program. A preferred embodiment of the invention accepts television (TV) input streams in a multitude of forms, for example, National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) or PAL broadcast, and digital forms such as Digital Satellite System (DSS), Digital Broadcast Services (DBS), or Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC)."
The patent goes on to explain how TiVo streams content through MPEG video. It gives users the option to put the video into "reverse, fast forward, play, pause, index, fast/slow reverse play, and fast/slow play."
The PTO's preliminary finding is important for EchoStar. It gives it some breathing room as it moves forward after a series of missteps.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Less than 24 hours after a federal judge found EchoStar in contempt in its long-running patent dispute with TiVo, another judge issued a temporary stay Wednesday, according to EchoStar.
"We are pleased that the Federal Appeals Court in Washington temporarily stayed the district court's order in the TiVo litigation. Dish Network customers can continue using their DVRs. We believe that we have strong grounds for appeal," the company said in a statement.
The temporary stay drags out even further a legal contest that is now five years old. It seemed like it had come close to reaching its conclusion on Tuesday evening when U.S. District Judge David Folsom found EchoStar, which is now part of Dish Network, in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction by reprogramming millions of DVRs with a new "workaround." He then ordered EchoStar to pay $103 million to TiVo.
"The harm caused to TiVo by EchoStar's contempt is substantial," Folsom wrote. "EchoStar has gained millions of customers since this court's injunction was issued, customers that are now potentially unreachable by TiVo."
TiVo first sued EchoStar in 2004 for violating a patent on a "multimedia time-warping system," which involved recording a program on one channel while watching another.
A jury in 2006 found that Dish Network's DVRs infringed upon a patent held by TiVo and ordered it to pay TiVo $73.9 million in damages. A federal appeals court upheld the ruling in January 2008, as did a second U.S. appeals court in April 2008.
CNET News' Steven Musil contributed to this report.
A federal court has awarded TiVo $103 million plus interest in its long-running patent dispute with EchoStar Communications and ordered EchoStar to disable infringing features found on its subscribers' digital video recorders.
U.S. District Judge David Folsom on Tuesday also found EchoStar, which is now part of Dish Network, in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction by reprogramming millions of DVRs with a new "workaround."
"The harm caused to TiVo by EchoStar's contempt is substantial," Folsom wrote. "EchoStar has gained millions of customers since this court's injunction was issued, customers that are now potentially unreachable by TiVo."
Englewood, Colo.-based Dish, which has roughly 13.6 million subscribers, said in a statement it would appeal the contempt ruling and file a motion to stay an order that requires it to disable the disputed DVR features within 30 days.
"Our engineers spent close to a year designing around TiVo's patent and removed the very features that TiVo said infringed at trial," the company said. "Existing Dish Network customers with DVRs are not immediately impacted by these recent developments."
The Alviso, Calif.-based maker of set-top boxes applauded the decision.
"We are extremely gratified by the court's well reasoned and thorough decision, in which it rejected EchoStar's attempted workaround claim regarding the TiVo patent, found EchoStar to be in contempt of court, and ordered the permanent injunction fully enforced," TiVo said in a statement. "EchoStar may attempt to further delay this case but we are very pleased the court has made it clear that there are major ramifications for continued infringement."
In after-hours trading, shares of TiVo rose $2.53, or 36 percent, to $9.51, while shares of Dish fell $1.19, or 6.9 percent, to $16.05.
TiVo first sued EchoStar in 2004 for violating a patent on a "multimedia time-warping system," which involved recording a program on one channel while watching another.
A jury in 2006 found that Dish Network's DVRs infringed upon a patent held by TiVo and ordered it to pay TiVo $73.9 million in damages. A federal appeals court upheld the ruling in January 2008, as did a second U.S. appeals court in April 2008.
Sirius XM Radio's chief executive may lose his job if the company chooses to file for bankruptcy protection.
A group of creditors tells The Wall Street Journal that it will seek the removal of CEO Mel Karmazin if the company chooses bankruptcy over a deal with an investor that would allow it to remain solvent.
"Creditors will act quickly and definitively if they perceive that management is acting in their own interest and not in the best interest of the estate," Edward Weisfelner, a partner with Brown Rudnick, the law firm representing the creditor group, told the newspaper. "The board of directors should carefully consider the ramifications."
The company is reportedly meeting this weekend to determine a course of action, with a final decision expected as early as Monday.
Sirius is staring at a significant debt crisis. According to a story that appeared on Yahoo Finance, financial research firm Moody's "thinks there's a 'high likelihood' that Sirius will fail to repay or refinance its debt in 2009." And that debt is reportedly coming due Tuesday.
If the company does file for bankruptcy, the creditors could petition the court to have Sirius' management removed and have the company placed under the stewardship of an independent trustee.
Sirius has been rumored to be seeking some sort of an investment from Liberty Media, which controls DirecTV, according to several media reports quoting anonymous sources close to the matter. A deal between the satellite radio giant and the largest U.S. satellite-TV provider could help Sirius fend off bankruptcy and an unsolicited takeover attempt from satellite company EchoStar, which has bought up Sirius' debt.
The company is also rumored to be mulling a bankruptcy filing to pressure Charles Ergen, the satellite-TV magnate who recently bought up most of Sirius' debt, to make a formal offer for the company.
It appears Sirius XM Radio is seeking some sort of an investment from Liberty Media, which controls DirecTV, according to several media reports quoting anonymous sources close to the matter.
A deal between the satellite radio giant and the largest U.S. satellite-TV provider could help for Sirius fend off bankruptcy and an unsolicited takeover attempt from satellite company EchoStar, which has bought up Sirius' debt.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, wrote that "though the talks between Sirius and Liberty are advanced, a deal remains far from certain. It wasn't clear how much Liberty would be willing to invest in Sirius and whether it would end up with control." Liberty Media Chief Executive John Malone is "known as a careful negotiator and is unlikely to cut a deal in haste," the Journal added.
Time is of the essence, however, for Sirius: $175 million in debt payments come due February 17. "The company is unlikely to be able to meet those obligations," The New York Times wrote.
Bloomberg cited an analyst at Stanford Group who said both EchoStar and DirecTV could use Sirius' satellite capacity to integrate radio and television services.
And PaidContent.org noted that "DirecTV already has a relationship with the satellite radio company, offering XM channels in its own packages." It added that Liberty is "in the midst of its own reorganization to gain value for assets that include DirecTV, Starz Entertainment, and Liberty Sports Holdings."
Sirius XM Satellite Radio, the financially troubled radio service, is busy preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing, according to a published report.
Sirius, home of shock-jock Howard Stern, has been working with advisers on the bankruptcy documents that could be filed within days, according to The New York Times.
Sirius is staring at a significant debt crisis. According to a story that appeared on Yahoo finance, financial research firm, Moody's, "thinks there's a 'high likelihood' that Sirius will fail to repay or refinance its debt in 2009."
Sirius' debt comes due on Tuesday, according to the Times' story. The company may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to pressure Charles Ergen, the satellite-TV magnate who recently bought up most of Sirius' debt, to make a formal offer for the company, the Times reported.
If Ergen chooses to wait and Sirius files for bankruptcy, it might force him to obtain the company through an auction or bankruptcy court. Another alternative for Ergen is to convert his debt into an ownership stake, according to the report.
Sling Media, the company that enables users to push their cable shows to their laptops from anywhere in the world, has seen a management shakeup, according to a published report.
The company's co-founders Blake and Jason Krikorian are leaving as are execs Jason Hirschhorn and Ben White, according to the blog PaidContent.
According to the report, Sling Media's senior executives agreed to stay a year following the company's acquisition by EchoStar for about $380 million. The year is up and it appears that the Sling's entrepreneurial leadership is walking away.
They may leaving at just the right time. The competition to supply video content on mobile devices is white hot and Sling has to contend with such rivals as Hulu, YouTube, Major League Baseball, Apple, and dozens of other distributors.
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