TiVo vs EchoStar: TiVo wins!

We still find the timeliness of the case a little dubious, but it certainly didn't take very long for a winner to be determined in TiVo's patent suit against EchoStar -- the jury apparently voted in favor of the plaintiff. What this means in terms of hard numbers we don't yet know, but it sounds like TiVo's going to have a windfall of technology licensing fees due their way sometime soon.

P.S. To our TiVo stock holding fans, an interesting tidbit: your stock, as of this writing, is up almost 20%. Damn.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

[Alex @ Apr 13th 2006 6:52PM]

Woohoo! This is really great news for TiVo fans. Maybe they won't inevitably go out of business after all.

But I still want to buy a lifetime subscription on my series 3, if i am going to get one. In case any of you TiVo employees are reading this.

[Topmounter @ Apr 13th 2006 7:09PM]

Charlie will try to pay them in brightly colored beads and used office furniture.

[timely is as timely does @ Apr 13th 2006 7:38PM]

I don't know what the heck the "timeliness" of the case has to do with anything. TiVo went to court when it felt it had a case, and not a moment sooner. That is something which is up to TiVo to decide, it is not up to you to decide. Your opinions about "timeliness" have absolutely no legal standing at all.

Anyone who has been following this case closely knew that TiVo was going to win. Even last year experts were predicting a TiVo win with 70-90% probability. TiVo waited until it knew it had the most rock-solid case possible, that's why they didn't go to court sooner. They knew that the first patent case could make or break them, so they chose wisely.

Unlike ReplayTV, which is no more, TiVo did not chose a strategy of living by lawsuits. TiVo could have gone to court sooner, but chose not too. TiVo waited for the perfect case to come along, and then TiVo acted. And TiVo was the better for exercising patience, too. TiVo, unlike most TiVo-bashing pundits, knows how the legal system works, and acted in a timely manner. "Timeliness" is how the court determines things, not how some tech website pundit guesses, based on nothing, how things "should" work.

It's no accident that DirecTV came to an agreement with TiVo recently: they could see the writing on the wall, too. Unlike some people, they appear to have been paying close attention to this patent court case.

BTW, Alex, you won't be able to buy a lifetime service after April 15th (assuming you already have a TiVo box paying monthly), so unless TiVo changes policies yet again it is very unlikely TiVo will offer lifetime on Series 3 boxes - although nothing official has been announced yet.

[Robert Aitchison @ Apr 13th 2006 7:45PM]

Now the appeal and simultaneous settlement negotiations begin.

My prediction (and hope) is that a settlement is reached that has Dish Network starting to offer integrated TiVo units. Maybe I'll get a Series3 after all.

The one variable I see here is Charlie Ergen, he's a bit unpredictable and may want to "fight this" even if it's not in his company's best interest.

[Fugg @ Apr 13th 2006 7:54PM]

Does this mean that your "Tivo Deathwatch" is over?
:)

[Dave Zatz @ Apr 13th 2006 8:02PM]

With the Comcast and DirecTV deals, plus this court win against Dish... I vote in favor of ending the TiVo deathwatch!

[DMills @ Apr 13th 2006 8:12PM]

I vote to change We're to we.

[frank @ Apr 13th 2006 8:19PM]

Guess my Dish bill will be increasing soon :(

[Ryan Block @ Apr 13th 2006 8:30PM]

Sorry, but the deathwatch stands! At least -- as stated -- "until TiVo either declares bankruptcy, gets acquired, or (hopefully) reports a profitable quarter." Sorry guys!

Best, Ryan

[Ryan @ Apr 13th 2006 8:55PM]

Hurrah! I own stock in TiVo. This is awesome news for TiVo also, and bad news for all those nay-sayers. :)

[warrenpeace @ Apr 13th 2006 10:20PM]

I love to root for the underdog, but I've wanted TiVo to win in order to guarantee that their amazing product is around for a long, long time. I hope winning this case means they'll be able to get licensing fees from other DVR makers (they deserve it for the awful boxes they've inflicted upon the public) and hopefully be financially healthy enough to get their products and software out faster and expand into markets outside the USA (such as Canada!!).

[photograffiti @ Apr 14th 2006 2:31AM]

What do you mean ReplayTV is no more? They were bought by Denon but still operating with that name.

[san @ Apr 14th 2006 6:19AM]

I've patented a system for breathing air in order to sustain life. What to do, what to do...

[elect @ Apr 14th 2006 10:21AM]

Actuall TIVO did report a profitable quarter. For the quarter ending July 31, 2005 it reported a profit of $240K

[Dr. Profit @ Apr 14th 2006 10:31AM]

Well, I am proud to say that even if TiVo hasn't pulled a yearly profit, I have. Thanks, TiVo!

[Gregg @ Apr 14th 2006 4:43PM]

Timely is as timely does:

You must be a lawyer. The 4 out of 5 paragraphs that you submitted for your "rebuttal" was completly devoid of content.

The basis of your comment is essentially "nuh-uh".

And if you had bother doing any research, you would know that the only reason Tivo won so quickly is because of the patent-friendly jurisdiction of Texas.

It's ok to enjoy Tivo(I find mine to be quite nice), but at least offer something intelligent to say. And if not...try to be more succinct next time.

[viewer @ Apr 15th 2006 3:12AM]

Im happy for TiVo they deserve it