DISH wins en banc TiVo reprieve

The US Court of Appeals has granted an en banc hearing to DISH Network and EchoStar over their ongoing legal battle with digital video recording (DVR) pioneer TiVo.
The two parties now have 42 days from the date of the order, May 14, to file their…

The US Court of Appeals has granted an en banc hearing to DISH Network and EchoStar over their ongoing legal battle with digital video recording (DVR) pioneer TiVo.

The two parties now have 42 days from the date of the order, May 14, to file their respective cases after which the six-member Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will review the lawsuit, a process that is expected to take months.

The ruling means that the federal appeals court’s March decision to uphold the patent violation verdict made by US District Court for Eastern Texas last autumn has been vacated and the appeal reinstated. This in turn means that DISH has secured a temporary reprieve to the prospect of a US$200m and either paying TiVo for licensing or turning off its DVR service until it is able to replace its boxes or software at great cost.

In a statement following the en banc decision, DISH commented: “(we) are pleased that the full Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has granted their petition for rehearing en banc. We believe the issues that will be considered by the full court on rehearing will have a profound impact on innovation in the United States for years to come.”

TiVo, of course, had a different reaction, “We are disappointed that we do not yet have finality in this case despite years of litigation but we remain confident that the Federal Circuit’s ruling in our favour will be reaffirmed after all of the judges on the Federal Circuit have had the opportunity to review the merits of this case.”