Alviso's TiVo wins $104 million Dish battle

An exterior view of TiVo headquarters is shown in Alviso, Calif., Tuesday, May 23, 2006. TiVo Inc., a pioneer of digital video recording, reports its first-quarter results after the bell. Analysts are expecting a loss of 19 cents per share, including stock option costs, on sales of $50.6 million. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) Ran on: 05-25-2006 TiVo Inc. of Alviso reported a loss of 13 cents per share, blaming the poor showing on legal costs and expenses for stock options. less An exterior view of TiVo headquarters is shown in Alviso, Calif., Tuesday, May 23, 2006. TiVo Inc., a pioneer of digital video recording, reports its first-quarter results after the bell. Analysts are expecting ... more Photo: PAUL SAKUMA Photo: PAUL SAKUMA Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Alviso's TiVo wins $104 million Dish battle 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

TiVo's patent battle with Dish Network Corp. turned in favor of the Alviso company Monday when the Supreme Court declined to take up Dish Network's appeal, forcing the satellite television company to pay $104 million in damages.

Dish Network, which operates the No. 2 satellite TV service, said it will release the full amount from escrow to TiVo in the coming days.

TiVo originally won a patent infringement case in 2004 against Dish, which was then named EchoStar Communications. It charged that Dish illegally copied its technology, which allows people to pause, rewind and record live television on digital video recorders.

EchoStar had wanted the Supreme Court to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that upheld a district court judgment of willful patent infringement, full award of damages and an injunction against Dish Network's infringing DVR products.

"We are extremely pleased that the United States Supreme Court has denied EchoStar's petition," TiVo said in a statement.

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Dish Network said the ruling will not disrupt its customers' continued use of its video recorders because it has deployed work-around software that it says does not infringe on TiVo's intellectual property. But Dish still needs to prove that its work-around software does not violate TiVo's patents.

A lower court had issued an injunction against Dish, ordering it to stop the distribution of its DVRs. Dish continued to sell the set-top boxes, saying the DVRs did not employ software that infringed on TiVo's patents.

U.S. District Judge David Folsom of Texas will now decide if Dish was successful in steering clear of TiVo's patents. If not, the company could face additional damages for failing to comply with the injunction.

"We believe that the design-around does not infringe TiVo's patent and that TiVo's pending motion for contempt should be denied. We look forward to that ruling in the near future," the company said in a statement.

TiVo's shares finished up 11 cents, or 1.76 percent, to $6.37 per share on Monday.