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TiVo to EchoStar: stop making DVRs!
Emboldened by its recent court victory in a long-running patent battle with EchoStar, TiVo has now taken the volume up a notch, and filed for an injunction to stop EchoStar from making or selling DVRs. However, EchoStar has fought back, insisting that recent USPTO rulings overturning some TiVo patents could render TiVo's victory short-lived. And, of course, EchoStar is requesting that the original ruling, which awarded TiVo about $74 million, be stayed until the USPTO finishes digging through TiVo's records. One thing's certain: this isn't ending any time soon, so if you want to keep up, be sure to program your TiVo box to catch the latest news (or program your EchoStar box, if that's what you've got, and hope that its time-shifting functions don't suddenly disappear via a court-mandated firmware flash).
The Clicker: TiVo and Echostar, the battle begins
Every week Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, an opinion column on entertainment and technology:The zephyr that oft times blows lightly over the plains of Texas carries with it these days a passenger. On that wind rides the subtle smell of desperation. Taking flight in the Federal District Court of the east-Texas town, Marshall, and emanating from TiVo, co-creator of the Digital Video Recorder market, is that unmistakable scent of fear, of panic, that comes when a company has reached the point in its lifecycle where the "Patent Infringement" lawsuit seems like the only way to save the company.As you read this, a five-man and five-woman jury is digesting testimony and preparing to deliver a verdict that could either deal another, perhaps deadly, blow to the floundering company, or on the flip-side could give the company a much-needed cash infusion.Not in dispute is the fact that TiVo is and has been, from its birth in that downtown San Jose mid-rise, a money-loser. While TiVo has managed to gain mindshare, secure a place in the English lexicon, and to help revolutionize how people watch TV, what TiVo hasn't done is make money. In fact, over the course of its 9-year existence, TiVo has lost well over half of a billion dollars.Jury members will instead be asked to determine the cause of this loss. Is it, as TiVo contends, in part due to Echostar's patent infringement, or is it, as Echostar argues, due to TiVo's mismanagement?
