Dish 'Investigating' Another Workaround For TiVo Patent

Dish 'Investigating' Another Workaround For TiVo Patent



In Court Filing, Satellite TV Operator Says It's Unsure Whether a ‘Design-Around is Even Possible'

by Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 6/17/2009 2:02:13 PM MT



Dish Network said in a court filing Monday that it is looking into developing another workaround for a patent owned by TiVo, as the satellite company awaits a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals on whether it would be forced to comply with an order to disable some 4 million of its DVRs.

Dish, in a one-sentence filing in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, said it "is investigating other potential design-around options, but at this stage, does not know whether a further design-around is even possible."
The satellite TV operator suffered a serious blow in the case earlier this month, after Judge David Folsom found Dish in contempt for violating a court order to stop using TiVo's "Time Warp" patent and awarded the DVR company an additional $103 million plus interest. Folsom, in his June 2 ruling, also ordered Dish to notify the court if the company were trying to create another workaround for the patent.
Dish appealed the decision and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted its request to temporarily stay the district court ruling.
TiVo has urged the appeals court to not delay the enforcement of the injunction barring Dish from infringing the Time Warp patent.