TiVo countersues Cisco over DVR patent infringements
updated 11:00 am EDT, Tue June 5, 2012
TiVo protects rights to patents by using them to countersue DVR maker Cisco
Very soon after Cisco sued TiVo to challenge TiVo's claims to patents used in DVRs, TiVo has gone ahead and sued Cisco back. According to a Tuesday report, there are four patents in contention and TiVo is involved in several lawsuits against a number of companies that bought the allegedly offending DVRs from Cisco. Cisco's Scientific Atlanta arm sells boxes to cable providers that include AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon Communications.
TiVo hasn't given Cisco a patent license for its technology because a large part of its revenue comes from lawsuits over such patents and the subsequent settlements. The TiVo court filing also mentioned infringement of patents from Cisco customers such as Verizon. In January, AT&T settled its lawsuit with TiVo, agreeing to pay $215 million and monthly licensing fees.
TiVo sells DVRs and licenses technology to Charter Communications, DirecTV, and Virgin Media.
How much money TiVo is seeking from the countersuit wasn't made clear.
