August 26th, 2009
TiVo sues AT&T, Verizon over DVR patents
TiVo said Wednesday that it is suing AT&T and Verizon over three DVR patents. The complaints seek damages and a permanent injunction.
Simply put, TiVo is pursuing the same legal playbook it followed against DISH/Echostar. The patents in question include 6,233,389, 7,529,465 and 7,493,015.
TiVo recently won another legal victory against Echostar, which was found in contempt of court in its legal spat. TiVo won $103 million in damages, but the case will have another hearing in November or so. Echostar appeals continue. Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is reviewing TiVo’s patents at Echostar’s request.
In a statement (earnings and lawsuit), TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said:
We will continue to pursue enforcement where necessary to stop infringement of our intellectual property.
On a conference call, Rogers noted that TiVo was still going to generate value through partnerships and distribution deals, but wanted investors to recognized the company’s intellectual property portfolio.
The lawsuits against AT&T and Verizon come as TiVo reported a fiscal second quarter net loss of $2.9 billion, or 3 cents a share, compared to a profit of 3 cents a share a year ago. The company reported revenue of $57.3 million, down from $65.2 million a year ago. Wall Street was expecting a loss of 5 cents a share.
Rogers called the quarter “solid” since the company delivered adjusted EBITDA of $5.2 million. TiVo said it has been focused on distribution via the likes of RCN and Best Buy. The company also said DVR rollouts with Comcast and DirecTV are on track.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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