TiVo and EchoStar Return to Court

The drama continued between TiVo and Dish Network operator EchoStar on Tuesday, as the two met once again in a Texas court.  According to Reuters, TiVo argued that EchoStar should have to pay additional damages for infringing on its digital video recorder patent.

For those that aren’t familiar with the history between these two companies, the legal dispute dates all the way back to 2004.  TiVo initially charged EchoStar’s Dish network system of violating TiVo’s patent for “Time Warp” software.  This software, also known as DVR, allows users to record one TV program while watching another.  In 2006, a court ruled in TiVo’s favor and the company was awarded $104 million in damages.  The U.S. Supreme Court denied Dish’s appeal of the ruling.

After that decision, EchoStar continued to distribute its digital video recorders, and collect subscription fees for the DVRs.  EchoStar claimed that the software contained a “work-around” that avoided infringement on TiVo’s patent.  TiVo claims that this “work-around” still infringes on their patents, which brought both companies back to court earlier this week.

TiVo is not only seeking additional damages, they are also looking for an injunction which would force EchoStar to stop using the DVR technology with its customers.