TiVo wants Dish Network DVR banned
May 25th, 2006TiVo, turning up the heat in its patent dispute against EchoStar, is asking a federal court to have Dish Network’s digital video recorders disabled and pulled from retail and distribution outlets.
In court papers filed Monday, TiVo sought to disable the DVR functionality in all but 192,702 of EchoStar’s DVRs already placed with customers.
TiVo prevailed last month in a patent-infringement suit against EchoStar, parent of Dish Network. Where infringement has been found, courts have been disposed toward granting injunctions. But a Supreme Court ruling earlier this month, in a case involving eBay, may remove that presumption.
TiVo must “paint the picture that ‘they’re going to drive us into oblivion,’ ” said Brad Wright, a patent lawyer who isn’t involved in the case. “In the past, the court cases said you could presume irreparable injury if the patent was infringed. I think the Supreme Court has put a question mark on that.”
(But TiVo always seems on the verge of oblivion. Does that make it easier to prove?)
EchoStar plans to appeal the Texas jury’s verdict.