Two months ago, a federal appeals court blocked a trial judge's order that would have required DISH Network to disable more than 3 million digital video recorders. Last week, the U.S. District Court of Appeals agreed that the DVRs can stay in operation while the direct-broadcast satellite provider appeals the original court injunction.
"We are pleased the Federal Court found that [DISH Network parent company] EchoStar has a 'substantial case on the merits' and blocked the Texas decision for the duration of the appeal," said the company in reponse to the court ruling. "This action by the Federal Court reinforces our belief that the Texas court made significant errors during the trial process and we look forward to complete vindication of our position."
TiVo sued the satellite TV service provider in 2004, alleging that EchoStar and certain subsidiaries violated a TiVo patent related to the storage and playback of television. A jury ruled in April that EchoStar infringed on Tivo's patented TV-viewing technology in making set-top boxes for its customers.
In August, the federal district court judge who presided over the jury trial issued the injunction against EchoStar, ordering it to pay TiVo $89.6 million in damages???more than the $74 million awarded by the jury. EchoStar had secured a temporary stay of the injunction, but this week???s stay will be in place as long as the DBS company pursues its appeal.
In their official statement in response to the ruling, Tivo said, "We are confident that the jury's decision in TiVo's favor will be upheld once the Federal Circuit has the opportunity to review the entire record in this case. It is important to note that most injunctions in patent cases are stayed pending appeal, and the appeal itself will be decided on a totally different standard of review."
For more information, check out the Bloomberg article EchoStar Can Sell Digital Recorder During TiVo Appeal.
