EchoStar Gets Stay in TiVo Battle

Adding another wrinkle to a long-running battle over digital video recorder technology, an appeals court granted EchoStar Corp. (SATS) and its consumer subsidiary Dish Network a stay in its patent dispute with DVR originator TiVo Inc. (TIVO). The stay delays a contempt order, issued last month by a U.S. District Court judge, that would force Dish to disable the DVRs in millions of customers’ set-top boxes, and to pay TiVo an additional $103 million, on top of the $105 million it has already paid.

The stay will give EchoStar additional breathing room while its appeal of its loss in the patent-infringement lawsuit filed by TiVo four years ago. After TiVo won the initial ruling in the case, EchoStar installed a technological work-around in the 4 million or so DVRs in its Dish network. Last month the court ruled that the new version still infringed on TiVo’s intellectual property, finding EchoStar in contempt and ordering it to shut the recorders down.

“We are pleased that the Federal Circuit has blocked the district court's injunction pending our appeal,” said EchoStar in a statement following the ruling. TiVo, in its own statement, responded, "We are confident that the District Court judge's thorough and well-reasoned decision finding EchoStar in contempt of court for violating the injunction and awarding further damages will be upheld once the Federal Circuit has the opportunity to review the merits of the case.”

TiVo shares had dropped nearly 15 percent at midday Thursday on the Nasdaq.