Patent Law

The following excerpt is from an Irell & Manella LLP press release issued today, February 1, 2008, and appearing at PR Newswire:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. has upheld a $94 million ruling in favor of digital video recorder pioneer TiVo Inc. in its patent infringement suit against EchoStar Communications Corp.

Law firm Irell & Manella LLP represented TiVo in both the original trial and the appeal, and was joined on appeal by members of the Washington office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP.

In a unanimous ruling written by Judge William Bryson, the three-judge panel affirmed an April 13, 2006 jury verdict in Marshall, Texas that EchoStar had willfully infringed TiVo's patent on its innovative "time-warp" technology for digital video recorders (known as DVRs). The appellate decision also upheld all damages claims against EchoStar, as well as a key injunction preventing EchoStar from using TiVo's technology.

The appellate court also sent the case back to the district court to decide additional damages for the period the injunction was stayed pending appeal.

The court overturned a finding of infringement by the hardware used by EchoStar, which will have no practical effect on damages or the overall outcome.

See the full press release here.