TiVo Secures Another Victory In Copyright Dispute With EchoStar
Digital video recording (DVR) firm, TiVo, has welcomed a decision by the US
Patent and Trademark Office delivered last week, which found its claim to the
so-called 'Time Warp Patent', which is at the heart of the service it provides,
to be valid. The patent in question covers technology which allows viewers to pause, fast
forward, and rewind live television shows. The dispute between TiVo and rival EchoStar began in 2004, and in April of
last year, TiVo, won a patent infringement lawsuit. The jury awarded a total
of $73.9 million of the initial $87 million sought by TiVo, determining that
EchoStar had 'wilfully' infringed on TiVo's patent. The case is currently pending an Appeal Court decision, but the USPTO's announcement
has provided TiVo with a much-needed fillip, as the matter had been effectively
stalled, awaiting the decision. In a statement published on Thursday, the firm announced that: "We are extremely pleased that the PTO has now found all claims of the
Time Warp Patent to be valid after conducting a reexamination of the
patent requested by EchoStar. This decision by the PTO is final and not appealable
by EchoStar." "Today's decision by the PTO brings us another step closer to ending EchoStar's
continued infringement and we are hopeful that the United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit will uphold the district court judgment of patent infringement
and reinstate the injunction." .
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