Ruling on TiVo threatens Dish DVRs

A federal court has upheld a ruling in favor of TiVo in its case against the Dish Network, the Associated Press writes. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is supporting a lower court's verdict, which holds that the Dish Network violated one of TiVo's software patents. Specifically the patent addresses split recording and viewing, one of TiVo's signature features, although neither TiVo nor Dish are the sole users of the concept.

The decision may have significant impact. In addition to granting TiVo damages of at least $94 million (after interest), it will require Dish to remove the infringing technology from future versions of its DVRs, which at present number three million. Dish says it has already has alternative software in place, but other companies may be forced to bow to TiVo when licensing technology for their own recorders, according to Citi analyst Tony Wible. Shares of TiVo stock rose more than 30 percent upon news of the Court of Appeals ruling.

Filed under: industry, gadgets
Other story tags: patents, lawsuits, tivo, DVR, Dish Network