TiVo sues Samsung before its money-making patents expire

TiVo is back in the litigation game with a new lawsuit against Samsung, according to its latest earnings report. The company has avoided such disputes since it settled with Dish Network, Verizon and other companies for over $1 billion. However, its Time Warp patent (which allows you to record one program while watching another) is what helped it win those sums, and it's set to expire in 2018. As a result, CEO Tom Rogers said that TiVo will assert its newer IP. "People know that we have quite a track record when it comes to our litigation and they also know that we don't pursue these things unless we believe there is significant damage opportunity."

So what is TiVo going after Samsung for, exactly? It's litigating three patents, including two related to Time Warp that have later expiration dates in 2023. The other, called "Trick Play," allows video to be played smoothly at faster speeds. The company didn't say how much it was asking for, but Rogers told Deadline Hollywood that it's a "significant lawsuit... Samsung is a major DVR supplier to the cable industry." The litigation was filed in the lawsuit-friendly confines of East Texas, and as before, we'd not be surprised if the parties settle before they ever get to court.