TiVo's (Nasdaq: TIVO) long legal battle with sister companies EchoStar Corp. (Nasdaq: SATS) and Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) is over as the satellite providers have agreed to pay the DVR pioneer $500 million--$300 million in a lump sum and $200 million in six annual installments--to settle a patent lawsuit.
The settlement shoots cash straight into the veins of TiVo and puts the company "in an enviable financial and strategic position," TiVo President-CEO Tom Rogers said in a TiVo news release.
The litigation began in 2004 when TiVo decided that DVR technology Dish and EchoStar were distributing to subscribers violated its patents. Since then, it's gone back and forth in the courts with one side or the other claiming victory. Most recently, TiVo came out on top when U.S. Court of Appeals that said, yes indeed, Dish and EchoStar infringed on TiVo DVR patents and must disable the infringing DVRs it has distributed to customers. On top of that, the court's split decision ruled that Dish was in contempt for not paying royalties to TiVo.
Now the two have settled and agreed to work together.
"We have tremendous respect for TiVo's management and we have always said that regardless of the outcome of the case, there were many ways that we could work together with TiVo," Charlie Ergen, Dish's chairman-CEO said in the TiVo news release.
For more:
- see this news release
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