Comcast has reportedly filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking to move up its hearing as it continues to battle TiVo over patent licensing.
The filing, which was first reported by CableFax, asks to move the hearing up to this summer. Without the request, the earliest the court might hear the case is the fall.
Comcast is appealing a November ruling by the International Trade Commission which halted imports of X1 set-top boxes with two technologies the ITC ruled violated TiVo patents.
Comcast responded by disabling remote recording features associated with the two TiVo technologies, then filing an appeal in federal court.
TiVo filed federal lawsuits in California and Massachusetts, alleging infringement on not only the patents it received favorable rulings from the ITC on, but also eight additional patents that the Commission ruled weren’t being infringed upon by Comcast. These lawsuits seek monetary compensation, while the ITC complaint seeks to control Comcast’s ability to import its devices into the U.S.
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Comcast is arguing in its appeal that the ITC has overstepped its authority by prohibiting the cable company from importing its set-tops.
Comcast asserts that the patents are decreasingly relevant during an era in which its developing most of its own technologies.
For its part, TiVo was formed two years ago when Rovi Corp. bought set-top box maker TiVo for $1.1 billion. Rovi makes most of its income on technology licensing.