Patent Office to Reexamine TiVo "Time Warp" DVR Patent

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 14, 2009 - 12:14pm.

Englewood, Colo. - Satellite TV firm DISH Network (NASD: DISH) and sister company EchoStar (NASD: SATS) announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to re-examine the validity of TiVo's (NASD: TIVO) core digital video recorder technology patent.

"The PTO found that there is a 'substantial new question' of patentability as to the software claims in light of prior patents that appear to render TiVo's '389 patent invalid as obvious," the companies said in a statement.

EchoStar lost a federal case challenging the validity of TiVo's "Time Warp" patent in 2006; the ruling was upheld on appeal in 2008.

The PTO also previously conducted a reexamination of TiVo's Time Warp patent in November, confirming all of the patent's claims without any change.

"EchoStar's latest tactic follows numerous failed attempts to invalidate TiVo's groundbreaking Time Warp patent," TiVo said in a statement.

"The USPTO grants most patent reexamination requests. Contrary to EchoStar's statement, the USPTO made no substantive findings. We are confident that the USPTO will once again confirm the validity of all of the claims of the Time Warp patent."