Dish Network to Pay TiVo $200 Million for Injunction Violation

Deborah Yao

The Associated Press

September 08, 2009

A federal judge on Friday ordered Dish Network Corp. and sister firm EchoStar Corp. to pay TiVo Inc. about $200 million for violating a permanent injunction on using a modified technology that can rewind and pause live TV.

Judge David Folsom of the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas awarded DVR maker TiVo $110 million in damages and $90 million in sanctions, plus attorney fees. He said Dish will be on the hook for more sanctions if it loses on an appeal of the case.

Dish had lost a 2004 patent infringement case brought by TiVo, and while the case was on appeal it designed a modified software that it downloaded to customers' DVRs. But TiVo said the workaround software still infringed on its patent and asked the court for a permanent injunction. In June, the court found that Dish violated the permanent injunction.

TiVo had asked the court that Dish pay $1 billion for using the modified technology from April 2008 to July 2009.

On Friday, Dish said that while it didn't believe any sanctions were warranted, it was gratified the court rejected TiVo's request for a $1 billion award and found that the injunction violation was not willful.

"The decision confirms our belief that we designed around TiVo's patent in good faith," Dish said in a statement. "We believe that we ultimately will prevail on appeal."

Shares of Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo rose 61 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $10.41 on Friday. Dish, based in Englewood, Colo., fell 93 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $16.30 after-hours. The stock rose by 93 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $17.23 during the regular session.