TiVo sets stage for new EchoStar fight
Company asks judge to shut down Dish's DVR operation
Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News
Published May 24, 2006 at midnight
TiVo, which last month won a $74 million jury verdict against EchoStar for violating patents integral to its digital video recorders, now wants a judge to shut down EchoStar's DVR business altogether.
TiVo filed court papers Monday seeking to permanently ban EchoStar from manufacturing or selling its DVRs that were found by a Texas jury to infringe on TiVo's "time warp" patent that allows viewers to pause, rewind or fast-forward live TV. TiVo also wants EchoStar to disable the 4 million DVRs already installed in Dish Network subscribers' homes.
"Every day that EchoStar sells its infringing DVRs, TiVo loses critical market share," TiVo argued in court papers filed in a Texarkana, Texas, court.
U.S. District Judge David Folsom, who presided over the jury trial, is scheduled to oversee a trial next month over whether the patent can be enforced.
Kathie Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Douglas County-based EchoStar, didn't immediately return a call for comment. The company has vowed to challenge the jury verdict.
Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo introduced its DVR device in 1997, and EchoStar created its own version a few years later. EchoStar made the technology a key selling point and gave the devices away to customers, charging a $6 monthly subscription fee.
TiVo, which sells its DVR device directly to the public and provides its service to DirecTV Group, has posted loses every year since going public in 1999.
TiVo DVRs account for less than one-third of the more than 15 million American homes that have some kind of digital video recorder box.
Forrester Research predicts that DVRs - with or without TiVo's branded service - will be found in nearly half of U.S. households as cable operators and other electronics markers add DVR features to their equipment.
If EchoStar is allowed to continue selling its DVRs, "TiVo risks being marginalized by the time the market matures," TiVo said in its filing.
TiVo's requested injunction would apply to Dish Network's two DVRs currently offered for sale, the DP-625 DVR and high-definition ViP622 DVR, the filing said.
TiVo also wants the judge to order EchoStar to disable the DVR function on all of the models in customer homes via a satellite software update.
EchoStar
DISH:Nasdaq
$30.35
+ 8 cents
Featured
-
Through Your Lens
Submit your photos or see the Editor's Choice slide show here.
-
Rocky Multimedia
The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.
-
Holiday Lights
Is your house the jolliest on the block? Submit your holiday lights display.
-
Holiday Gift Guide
Looking to get a jump-start on the holiday shopping season?
-
Mount Crushmore
Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.
-
Bronco Dean's rant
Listen to Bronco Dean's midweek rant on the Chiefs.
-
Broncos Video
Get the latest from Dove Valley as the Broncos prepare for Sunday's matchup.
-
Calendar wallpaper
Download this month's desktop wallpaper calendar
-
Sam Adams' Open Mic
Open Mic: Stirrin' the Soup with Matt Iseman




Post your comment
Registration is required. Click here to create your free user account, or login below.
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.