TiVo & EchoStar go head-to-head in US court

[BGonaSTICK]

Lawyers for TiVo Inc. were expected to tell a federal court jury Wednesday that satellite-TV broadcaster Dish Network stole the technology used in TiVo's popular device for recording and replaying live television.

Lawyers for EchoStar Communications Corp., the parent of Dish Network, planned to argue that their client didn't infringe on TiVo's patent for a "multimedia time warping system" and instead invented their own digital video recorder.

After opening statements by lawyers, testimony was expected to take a technical turn as each side trots out expert witnesses to describe the inner workings of each company's set-top box.

If TiVo wins, it could collect millions in damages to boost its sagging financial performance and gain leverage to force cable operators to pay royalties for offering customers TiVo-like service. Analysts say the outcome also will affect the price of TiVo stock, which is up 38 percent so far this year.

TiVo, based in Alviso, Calif., is seeking unspecified damages. Lawyers following the case said the company is probably seeking an amount equal to what Dish Network would have paid TiVo if it had licensed TiVo technology in 2001, when TiVo received a patent for the technology.

Source: Yahoo! News