TiVo and Dish/EchoStar go another round in court

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Both sides claimed victory Friday after a Federal Judge in Texas awarded more money to TiVo in its ongoing patent fight with Dish Network and EchoStar. Dish/EchoStar has refused to license TiVo’s patents regarding DVRs and has fought in the courts and the US Patent and Trademark Office to have the patent claims voided – thus far without success.


First, Friday’s statement from TiVo:

“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, and to award TiVo its attorney fees and costs incurred during the contempt proceedings. This brings total damages and sanctions in this case to approximately $400 million through July 1, 2009, plus attorney fees, and is exclusive of potential further damages and sanctions,” TiVo said.

“Additionally, we are pleased that the Court ‘will seriously entertain the award of enhanced sanctions’ if ‘EchoStar is unsuccessful on appeal and nevertheless continues to disregard this Court’s orders.’ We are confident that this ruling brings us closer to final resolution,” TiVo added.

So, with another judgment for $200 million, how is Dish/EchoStar claiming victory? Because it wasn’t a lot more.

Here is their joint 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,” said Dish/EchoStar.