TiVo wins contempt against Dish in DVR ban
updated 04:20 pm EST, Thu March 4, 2010
TiVo awarded contempt ruling against Dish, Echo
A US District Court for Eastern Texas on Thursday affirmed a contempt ruling against Dish Network and sister company EchoStar Corp in their long-term patent case versus DVR maker TiVo. The verdict maintains that Dish and EchoStar failed to comply with an earlier court-ordered permanent ruling that had the two cease the production and sale of DVRs. TiVo sued EchoStar in 2004, where a jury found in favor of the former.
TiVo is now eligible to receive $300 million in damages and contempt sanctions awarded to it for EchoStar's infringement through July 1 of last year, and says it will pursue further damages for any infringements after this date.
TiVo and Dish were involved in at least one other lawsuit, over software violations. This latest ruling should also help TiVo in its litigation against AT&T, Verizon and Microsoft.
Dish and EchoStar went on record to say their customers will not be affected by the ruling, and will propose redesigned DVR technology to the district court for approval.
