TiVo wins $200 million judgement from Dish Network

TiVo has won a suit it filed against Dish Network and now the satellite TV giant must pay up to the tune of $200 million. The original suit was filed back in 2004 when TiVo sued EchoStar, which is now part of Dish Network, for a patent violation involving DVR technology. A jury found in favor of TiVo in 2006 and ordered Dish to pay nearly $74 million. Dish appealed twice and lost and then was ordered to pay an additional $103 million plus interest after being found in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction on selling the infringing DVRs.

Frustrated over Dish’s refusal to comply, TiVo sued for close to $1 billion saying it was entitled to all of the company’s DVR profits over the past 5 years while the suit has been going on. A judge found in favor of TiVo, but awarded the sum of $200 million saying Dish had made a good faith effort to design around the patent.

TiVo said in a statement, “We are pleased by the court’s ruling to impose contempt sanctions of approximately $200 million against EchoStar for its continued violation of a court-ordered permanent injunction…We are confident that this ruling brings us closer to final resolution.”

Dish Network said they plan to appeal with full confidence that they will win.

Read [CNet]