DALLAS - A judge has handed EchoStar Communications Corp., the owner of the Dish satellite-TV network, another setback in its copyright feud with TiVo Inc., delaying EchoStar's countersuit against the maker of the first widely available set-top box for recording live television programming on a hard drive.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline M. Craven of Texarkana blocked EchoStar's patent-infringement lawsuit against TiVo and Humax USA Inc. while the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reviews patents claimed by EchoStar.
Craven, who issued the stay last month, made it final when EchoStar declined to appeal, TiVo spokesman Elliot Sloane said Monday.
The case had been scheduled for trial early next year, but in a regulatory filing, EchoStar said the Patent Office examination "could take many years."
An EchoStar spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the ruling. The judge's decision was the latest defeat for EchoStar in its legal fight over technology patents.
TiVo sued EchoStar in 2004, and in April a jury in Marshall found that EchoStar had infringed on a TiVo patent in making its own set-top box, called a digital video recorder or DVR.
This month, the judge who presided over that trial ordered EchoStar to pay $89.6 million in damages -- more than the jury had awarded.
The trial judge, David Folsom, also ordered EchoStar to disable more than 3 million of its DVRs that jurors found used elements of TiVo technology, but a federal appeals court this month delayed Folsom's order while the case is appealed.
EchoStar filed its own lawsuit against TiVo in 2005. TiVo issued a statement Monday saying it was pleased with Craven's decision to delay the countersuit while the Patent Office reviews EchoStar patents. TiVo charges that previous technology that regulators didn't review makes EchoStar's patent claims invalid.
TiVo hopes that court victories against EchoStar will give it power to negotiate royalty and license deals with other cable and satellite-TV providers whose customers use DVRs other than TiVo's. Dish is the nation's No. 2 satellite-TV network behind DirecTV.
In midday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, TiVo shares rose 5 cents, to $7.90, and shares of Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar gained 25 cents, to $31.95.
The only link I have is from the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/082906dnbustivo.43effcbb.html
U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline M. Craven of Texarkana blocked EchoStar's patent-infringement lawsuit against TiVo and Humax USA Inc. while the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reviews patents claimed by EchoStar.
Craven, who issued the stay last month, made it final when EchoStar declined to appeal, TiVo spokesman Elliot Sloane said Monday.
The case had been scheduled for trial early next year, but in a regulatory filing, EchoStar said the Patent Office examination "could take many years."
An EchoStar spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the ruling. The judge's decision was the latest defeat for EchoStar in its legal fight over technology patents.
TiVo sued EchoStar in 2004, and in April a jury in Marshall found that EchoStar had infringed on a TiVo patent in making its own set-top box, called a digital video recorder or DVR.
This month, the judge who presided over that trial ordered EchoStar to pay $89.6 million in damages -- more than the jury had awarded.
The trial judge, David Folsom, also ordered EchoStar to disable more than 3 million of its DVRs that jurors found used elements of TiVo technology, but a federal appeals court this month delayed Folsom's order while the case is appealed.
EchoStar filed its own lawsuit against TiVo in 2005. TiVo issued a statement Monday saying it was pleased with Craven's decision to delay the countersuit while the Patent Office reviews EchoStar patents. TiVo charges that previous technology that regulators didn't review makes EchoStar's patent claims invalid.
TiVo hopes that court victories against EchoStar will give it power to negotiate royalty and license deals with other cable and satellite-TV providers whose customers use DVRs other than TiVo's. Dish is the nation's No. 2 satellite-TV network behind DirecTV.
In midday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, TiVo shares rose 5 cents, to $7.90, and shares of Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar gained 25 cents, to $31.95.
The only link I have is from the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/082906dnbustivo.43effcbb.html
