TiVo vs Verizon and ATT

TiVo on Wednesday announced that it has filed lawsuit against Verizon and AT&T for allegedly infringing several patents. The fresh legal battle is similar to the company's fight against Dish Network and EchoStar, a case which lead to a $190 million ruling and an injunction to stop the companies from enabling the patented technology in set-top boxes already owned by customers.

The three patents describe a "Multimedia Time Warping System," "System for Time Shifting Multimedia Content Streams," and an "Automatic Playback Overshoot Correction System." TiVo submitted the filing in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, a popular location selected by plaintiffs for intellectual property disputes. Many attorneys expect favorable results from the local juries and judges, along with big payouts for successful cases.

TiVo's suit against EcoStar and Dish Network initially landed a $104 million judgment, although the damages were later raised to $190 million. The additional damages were added after TiVo's attorneys convinced the court that EchoStar and Dish continued to replicate the Time Warp functionality in their set-top boxes.

Despite the $190 million judgement, TiVo still accuses the networks of establishing a work-around on the patented technology instead of disabling the feature entirely. The attorneys are now fighting to have the amount raised to $1 billion for contempt sanctions. Dish and EchoStar successfully established a stay order in the appeals court, however.

Although the initial rulings have favored TiVo, EchoStar and Dish fought to have the Patent and Trademark Office review the patents and validity of individual claims. The PTO earlier this month partially agreed with the defendants and found two of the patent claims to be invalid. The findings have not been finalized, however, but it could indicate the companies have a fighting chance in the appeals process. The PTO findings, once finalized, could also have an impact on TiVo's suit against Verizon and AT&T.

While TiVo's attorneys have been hard at work pursuing the current cases, the company's income has continued to slip. Financial results for the recent quarter indicate a net loss of $2.9 million, although the company guidance pointed to losses between $6 million and $8 million. Expectations for the net quarter remain grim, as TiVo's financial team forecasts losses of between $8 million and $10 million.

By Electronista Staff