A Texas federal judge found that EchoStar violated patents held by TiVo, and has ordered the satellite TV provider to disable video recording services to several million of its DISH customers.
U.S. District Judge David Folsom ordered that EchoStar had 30 days to disable most of the DVR devices that it had sold to satellite-to-home television subscribers. The judge’s action follows a jury verdict ordering EchoStar to pay TiVo $74.9 million for willful patent infringement involving the DVR technology.
A stay on the order was denied. This puts EchoStar in the position of having to follow the court order or strike a quick licensing deal with TiVo.
It wasn’t a total loss for EchoStar, however. Folsom denied a TiVo request to triple the jury award. But, he did order EchoStar to pay an additional $5.4 million in interest payments and $10.3 million in supplemental damages.
That brings the total amount owed TiVo to almost $90 million.
