This just in… TiVo won their patent infringement case versus Echostar! Once the dust settles and more details emerge, I’ll update this post.
Update 1: The Wall Street Journal, AP, and Bloomberg are reporting the award is $74 million. I haven’t found out yet what this means for current Dish DVR units. Apparently the judge in the case owns a TiVo, though members of the jury do not.
Update 2: TiVo’s stock is up $1.55 in after hours trading to $9.80 which is more than a 100% increase over the 52 week low hit last October.
Update 3: TiVo will be seeking an injunction against Dish DVR units and perhaps others. Read TiVo’s official response to the verdict here or see below. (Thanks, Davis!)
Update 4: Echostar responds here or see their statement below. Isn’t it amazing how both sides claim victory? ;)
Update 5: The judge has the ability to adjust the award… up to tripple the $74 million presented by the jury. Deliberations took only two hours, including a cigarette break. An updated AP article can be found here.
Update 6: Some have expressed interest in reading the actual patent text. Search for patent number 6233389 here to see it.
Bloomberg says: TiVo Inc., the pioneer maker of digital video recorders, won a jury trial in a Texas lawsuit against EchoStar Communications Corp. over a patent for technology that lets a viewer record one TV program while watching another, a court official said. Details of the verdict by a federal court jury in Marshall, Texas, weren’t immediately available, said a court clerk who declined to give her name. The victory may mean TiVo, based in Alviso, California, can receive significant licensing fees for its technology, raising the cost of digital video recorders for cable and satellite companies paying for TiVo-like boxes, an analyst said.
TiVo says: TiVo is pleased that the jury found that TiVo’s pioneering time warping patent is valid and that EchoStar has been infringing on our intellectual property. TiVo is particularly gratified that the jury found that EchoStar willfully infringed on our patent and the consequences their actions had on our overall business. This decision recognizes that our intellectual property is valuable and will ensure that moving forward EchoStar and any others that want to use our patented technology will be required to provide us with compensation.
TiVo intends to seek a permanent injunction against EchoStar’s DVR products.
TiVo is built on a strong foundation of innovative technology and intellectual property. We now hold more than 87 patents in our worldwide patent portfolio and have more than 138 patent applications pending. TiVo has a long list of licensees in the consumer electronics, cable and satellite markets, and we will continue to license our technology under appropriate circumstances and arrangements. We will also continue to vigorously defend our intellectual property for the benefit of our licensees and shareholders.”
Echostar says: This is the first step in a very long process and we are confident we will ultimately prevail. Among other things, we believe the patent – as interpreted in this case – is overly broad given the technology in existence when TiVo filed its patent. We believe the decision will be reversed either through post-trial motions or on appeal. Additionally, the Patent Office is in the process of re-examining TiVo’s patent, having determined there is a substantial question concerning the validity of the patent.
DISH Network subscribers can continue to use the receivers in their homes, including their DVRs. Furthermore, TiVo dropped their claim that EchoStar’s Dishplayer 7200 DVR infringes their patent.
EchoStar looks forward to trial of its DVR patent case against TiVo in February 2007.