TiVo wins another round in Dish suit

Despite repeatedly losing, however, Dish said it will seek a review of the panel’s decision by the full US Court of Appeals.

TiVo said the decision, if it stands, would let it collect at least $300 million from Dish - about $100 million in damages and interest, and the rest in contempt sanctions that TiVo already has been awarded. That would be on top of about $100 million in damages that Dish had already paid TiVo in earlier litigation.

TiVo came out with its DVR in 1999 and “TiVo’’ became a verb synonymous with recording TV, but it has faced intense competition from generic DVRs offered by Dish and other subscription TV providers.

The company also has sued AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., charging them with infringing on certain DVR patents.

At issue is a TiVo patent on technology for storing and retrieving video on DVRs, which lets viewers pause, rewind, and replay live TV. TiVo sued Dish in 2004 for using a similar technology on its DVRs, a case Dish lost on appeal. Dish paid TiVo $104.6 million in damages and interest and was barred from using the technology.

While the case was going on, Dish crafted a redesigned technology that it said did not infringe on TiVo’s patent. But the US District Court in Marshall, Texas, disagreed and ordered Dish to pay TiVo additional damages.

Dish appealed again, losing that bid yesterday. Dish said that it is planning a second redesign of its technology and will seek approval from the district court to use it.

Dish said it’s disappointed in the ruling but gratified that one of the three appellate judges sided with its position and issued a dissenting opinion.