Last week was a good one for TiVo. The company has seen a judgment against Dish Networks parent company, Echostar for patent infringement upheld, with a penalty of nearly $90m. Although likely to go to appeal, this opens the door for TiVo to take a far more aggressive approach in syndicating its technologies in the US. Already, it is working with Comcast to deliver a timeshift service.
These specific patents do not apply in Europe so Sky and NTL:telewest are safe for now, but this seems to becoming an increasingly litigious market.
This does, however, show up once again how sweeping patent provision in the US is, since this particular cover applies to a device that enables viewers to view and record different channels on their television at the same time.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a contested battle for TiVo now that their patents have been proven to be valuable with News Corp coming out the winner in a three way battle with Comcast and Dish Networks.
These specific patents do not apply in Europe so Sky and NTL:telewest are safe for now, but this seems to becoming an increasingly litigious market.
This does, however, show up once again how sweeping patent provision in the US is, since this particular cover applies to a device that enables viewers to view and record different channels on their television at the same time.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a contested battle for TiVo now that their patents have been proven to be valuable with News Corp coming out the winner in a three way battle with Comcast and Dish Networks.
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