Dish Network was celebrating in June when a Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) panel moved to strike down a patent held by TiVo on digital video recorder (DVR) technology. But TiVo appealed that decision and now it is the one celebrating.
“We are pleased that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has reaffirmed the validity of all claims of the Time Warp Patent at issue in the second reexamination of the patent at the request of EchoStar. This decision by the PTO is final and not appealable by EchoStar. Today’s decision further validates our IP and brings us closer to ending EchoStar’s ongoing infringement. Moreover, we remain confident that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will uphold and enforce an injunction against EchoStar’s ongoing willful infringement of the Time Warp Patent,” said TiVo.
The battle over the patent has been costing Dish and its sister company EchoStar big bucks. They’ve already paid $104 million in damages under the original patent infringement finding by a federal court. Now they’re facing another $103 million plus interest after being found in contempt of court for trying to do a work-around that the judge ruled was still infringing the TiVo patent.
There was no immediate comment from Dish.
