Generally speaking, patent litigation bores us. However, we offer up this (abbreviated) story in the name of completeness.
Given TiVo’s success in extracting $100 million from Echostar/DISH, they set their patent infringement sights on AT&T and Verizon. As AT&T U-Verse television service is powered by Microsoft’s Mediaroom, MS joined the fray and sued TiVo. Apparently, Softie’s initial claims of infringement didn’t generate quite the leverage they were looking for… So they’ve doubled down with an additional complaint seeking:
an order excluding TiVo’s infringing set-top boxes and associated software and hardware from entry into the United States and a cease and desist order
However, despite Microsoft’s strong language, they’re:
open to resolving this situation through an intellectual property licensing agreement, and we look forward to continued negotiations with TiVo
And, now, back to your regularly scheduled gadget coverage…