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Dish must pay TiVo $200 million for infringing on DVR technology

September 4th, 2009, 6:49 pm by

TiVo logoThe ongoing legal dispute between TiVo and Dish Network took a turn in TiVo’s favor, according to late Friday afternoon statements from both companies.

TiVo, which sued EchoStar Communications Corp. and Dish for infringing on its digital-recording patents, has been on the winning end all summer. After Dish appealed the last order by a Texas judge to dismantle all infringing digital video recorders, the Texas court ruled today that Dish must pay TiVo $200 million for the continued violation. (See earlier story: “Dish infringes on TiVo’s patents, ordered to dismantle DVR features.”)

“We are pleased by the Court’s ruling to impose contempt sanctions of approximately $200 million against EchoStar for its continued violation of a Court-ordered permanent injunction, and to award TiVo its attorney fees and costs incurred during the contempt proceedings. This brings total damages and sanctions in this case to approximately $400 million through July 1, 2009, plus attorney fees, and is exclusive of potential further damages and sanctions,” TiVo said in a statement. “We are confident that this ruling brings us closer to final resolution.”

Dish, meanwhile, also praised the order somewhat by saying it was pleased the judge rejected TiVo’s request to levy a $1 billion judgment. In its statement, Dish said:

“We are pleased that the district court rejected Tivo’s request to award a billion dollars in sanctions and that it found that any violation of the injunction was not willful. While we disagree that any amount of sanctions was warranted, the decision confirms our belief that we designed around Tivo’s patent in good faith. We believe that we ultimately will prevail on appeal.”

So, it looks like the case will continue through appeals.

Related: Dish Told to Pay TiVo About $200 Million Over Patent(Bloomberg)

Earlier on TiVos and DVRs:

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Cox O.C. will be first to test TiVo adapters from Motorola

September 2nd, 2009, 1:23 am by

Cox working with Motorola on TiVo adapter.Some local Cox subscribers got a nasty surprise when the cable provider unleashed a slew of new HD channels last month: They couldn’t view  them.

That was the case of reader Lori Belski, a Cox customer and TiVo user who wrote to me voicing frustration with Cox’s lack of customer service about her issue.

What happened is that Cox is using a different technology to offer the new HD channels. The “switched digital video” technology turns content into on-demand channels so instead of a regular broadcast stream, the stream starts only at the customer’s request. Once requested, these “switched” channels should appear as normal channels. Most Cox subscribers probably didn’t notice the difference because Cox’s equipment can handle the two-way communication needed.

TiVo boxes equipped with special Cox CableCARDs, however, cannot. CableCARDs are one-way communicators and need an adapter to make requests. Cox currently offers no adapters.

Well, there’s good news and bad news. Read the rest of this entry »

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Are U-verse and FiOS DVRs in trouble?

August 27th, 2009, 10:47 am by

TiVoAs it previously hinted, TiVo has filed suit against two more companies not licensed to use its TV-recording patents

TiVo said Wednesday it filed legal complaints against AT&T and Verizon in a Texas court. The complaint seeks damages for any current and past infringement on three TiVo patents related to recording and pausing live TV. The patents are similar to the ones TiVo has somewhat successfully accused Dish Network/EchoStar of violating.

Verizon and AT&T both offer DVRs through their TV services FiOS and U-verse. When I spoke to a TiVo in June, a spokesman said that TiVo has agreements with Comcast, Cox and DirecTV. It’s also reportedly in talks with Time Warner Cable. Agreements range from rebranding  TiVo’s actual software for their own customers to just a license agreement. TiVo wanted to have a similar  relationship with all TV companies that have DVRs.

Most recently in June, Dish was ordered by a Texas court to dismantle its DVRs because it infringed on the TiVo patents. Dish has appealed.

The three TiVo patents in the AT&T and Verizon case are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,233,389 B1 (“Multimedia Time Warping System”), 7,529,465 B2 (“System for Time Shifting Multimedia Content Streams”), and 7,493,015 B1 (“Automatic Playback Overshoot Correction System”). Essentially, they cover the technology to record and pause live TV digitally.

Bloomberg reported that the companies had tried to reach an agreement but failed. Said Thomas Rogers, TiVo’s chief executive officer, during a earnings conference call on Wednesday, “Attempts were made to reach a commercial arrangement. They were not reached. We believe we are being caused irreparable harm and that harm increases every day this doesn’t cease.”

Whether or not Verizon and AT&T will have to yank their DVRs, it’s bound to take years for anything to get resolved unless the companies reach an agreement out of court. TiVo’s fight with Dish/Echostar started in 2004, according to Bloomberg.

Previous stories on TiVo:

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No TiVo love from AT&T U-verse

July 30th, 2009, 3:24 am by

AT&T U-verseAfter writing about a new cable TV service that could render TiVos useless, a reader wondered, what about TiVo and AT&T U-verse, a highly-desired alternative to cable?

Unfortunately, AT&T’s Internet-based TV service U-verse doesn’t support TiVo either. Like the cable companies who are rolling out switched digital video, U-verse uses the same two-way communication technology (see the earlier story, “More HD channels coming to cable TV, TiVo users impacted“).

Such technology allows a TV company to make the most of limited video capacity. By converting the least popular channels into on-demand only, there is more room in the live broadcast stream for high-definition channels. This requires two-way communication since a user must request a channel or on-demand movie that isn’t streaming live.

TiVos that use a CableCARD to get video service are one-way communication devices and can’t request the on-demand movies or any channels that moved to switched digital video. Those channels will appear missing. The cable companies plan to provide adapters when the service rolls out here in Orange County.

But not AT&T. Read the rest of this entry »

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More HD channels coming to cable TV, TiVo users impacted

July 3rd, 2009, 7:58 am by

Switched video technology could make TiVos useless they get an adapter.

Sooner than later, Orange County cable TV customers may notice a lot more high-definition channels.

This is not an easy task, by the way. Cable providers have struggled to offer more HD channels because their aging systems are near capacity.  Now,  thanks to new technology called switched digital video, they have figured out how to get more room: Stop broadcasting every single channel 24/7.

By turning some of the least popular channels into on-demand channels, cable companies can use that newly opened space to squeeze in more HD channels. Channels that do go switched digital are still accessible. But there may be a slight delay after turning to that channel, as the cable box sends the request back to the main station. The delay should be just a split second and unnoticeable to viewers, the cable companies say.

But one reader from Yorba Linda, who uses a CableCARD and TiVo to watch cable TV, alerted me that some switching might be going on in his neighborhood. He woke up one day to find very few channels showing up on his TV — Food TV yes, but not the HD version; no Bravo and absolutely no HBO. A  Time Warner customer service representative mentioned to him the cable provider was switching to this new technology.

I checked with both local cable companies — Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications — and both plan to implement this technology. But Time Warner has not yet. Cox, however, is testing it out in Orange County. Read the rest of this entry »

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Is Time Warner adding TiVo to its DVR?

June 23rd, 2009, 9:24 am by

TiVoNoted: According to this Bloomberg news story, Time Warner Cable is “in talks” to offer TiVo’s DVR service.

The cable TV provider mentioned this little factoid on a June 11 conference call, so it’s kind of strange that the news is just hitting the wires now.

Presumably, this would mean a few things: Time Warner would license its DVR technology from TiVo, which just won a major victory earlier this month against Dish Network. A judge ruled that Dish violated TiVo’s DVR patents so it must disable its DVRs, although Dish has been able to postpone it.

Also, it could mean that Time Warner customers start seeing some TiVo-riffic features show up on their DVR, such as WishList, which lets users pick which actors they want to see and instantly record any movies or shows they appear in. Or the interactive advertising, where the ability to record upcoming  TV shows pops up onscreen during a commercial, saving the user time from searching for the program later.

TiVo already has licensing agreements with Comcast, DirecTV and Cox cable. Some of these range from the companies rebranding  TiVo’s actual software for their own customers to just a license agreement. Cox, for example, integrates TiVo features like Season Pass, WishList and interactive advertising.

When I spoke to TiVo earlier this month about the Dish lawsuit, the company mentioned it would love to have a similar partnership with all other TV companies that have DVRs. This could be it.

The Bloomberg story actually focuses on TiVo’s goal to get into more living rooms, after winning the patent suit against Dish. The Time Warner factoid was pointed out by DSLReports.com, Gizmodo and others.

TiVo charges $12.95/month for people to use its video recorder in order to record and pause shows, plus get access to movies online from Amazon, Netflix and Blockbuster. Time Warner charges $10/month for DVR service and rents the box separately.

Earlier on TiVo:

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TiVo has no beef with Cox, Comcast and DirecTV. But everyone else?

June 3rd, 2009, 4:35 pm by

UPDATE, 10 p.m.: The saga continues. Dish wins a stay of a court injunction to disable DVRs as it appeals patent infringement case by TiVo. See Reuters story.
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TiVo

Just to be clear, Dish Network, which lost a patent infringement case (again) to TiVo on Tuesday, was ordered by a federal judge to stop it already, which essentially turns Dish DVRs into plain-ol’ boxes.

U.S. District Judge David Folsom is giving Dish 30 days to “disable the DVR functionality (i.e., disable all storage to and playback from a hard disk drive of television data) in all but 192,708 units of the Infringing products …” according to the court order. The “infringing” DVRs include these models: DP-501, DP-508, DP-510, DP-522, DP-625, DP-721, DP-921, and DP-942.(Read the court order yourself via PDF: TiVo wins (again).)

(Yikes!)

Will this really happen? The same court ordered Dish (when it was part of EchoStar) to dismantle its DVRs 3 years ago and the two companies have been stuck in court sorting things out. Of course, as TiVo continues to win cases, it also collects penalties, plus interest, from Dish. Dish has appealed and the two show up again in court on June 26. 

Could this happen to your non-TiVo DVR? Possibly. 

All a TiVo spokesman would tell me is that TiVo does have license agreements with Comcast, Cox and DirecTV. Some of these range from the companies rebranding  TiVo’s actual software for their own customers to just a license agreement. 

TiVo would love to have similar partnership with all TV companies that have DVRs, he said. Those, presumably, would include Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse plus a plethora of others who offer TV service outside of Orange County. At the moment, no other patent lawsuits are pending between TiVo and other companies.

Based on the original 2006 court order for a permanent injunction against Dish, the patent in question is this one, dealing with ”Multimedia time warping systen.” I’m not a lawyer but the patent #6,233,389 does seem to cover the gist of the whole point of a DVR: to pause, rewind and record live TV.

Thanks to Michael Doss, OCR’s go-to research guy, for tracking down the lawsuit. 

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Dish infringes on TiVo’s patents, ordered to dismantle DVR features

June 2nd, 2009, 5:26 pm by

UPDATE, July 1, 2009: Federal court blocks any injunction against Dish so its customers can continue using their DVRs. See Dish’s statement.

UPDATE, June 3, 10 p.m.: The saga continues. Dish wins a stay of a court injunction to disable DVRs as it appeals. See Reuters story. Also, a followup to this post: TiVo has no beef with Cox, Comcast and DirecTV. But everyone else? 
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Dish Network logoNoted: TiVo, which changed the way that most of us watch TV today, won a lawsuit against Dish Network’s EchoStar Communications that could end up disabling “an infringing function on all but about 193,000 digital video recorders,” according to a Reuters story. 

That infringing function covered “DVR playback features, like the ability to pause and rewind live programming while the DVR continues to record,” according to the Denver Business Journal.

EchoStar’s attempt to do a workaround on TiV0′s patent was ruled to be in contempt of court. The federal court in Texas also placed a permanent injunction on affected Dish DVRs, while awarding TiVo $103 million in damages, plus another $89.6 million in patent infringement claims.

Tivo, in a release, said, “We are extremely gratified by the Court’s well reasoned and thorough decision, in which it rejected EchoStar’s attempted workaround claim regarding the TiVo patent, found EchoStar to be in contempt of court and ordered the permanent injunction fully enforced.”

Dish plans to appeal. The company said there will be no immediate impact on customers who have Dish DVRs.

In a statement on its web site, Dish said, ”We are disappointed in the district court’s decision finding us in contempt. DISH Network will appeal, and will file a motion to stay the order with the Federal Circuit. We believe a stay is warranted and that we have strong grounds for appeal. Our engineers spent close to a year designing-around Tivo’s patent and removed the very features that Tivo said infringed at trial.”

The two return to court on June 26 to hear about sanctions against EchoStar.

For more, see the Reuters story, “Court awards Tivo $190 million in EchoStar patent case.” 

More on the web:

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