TiVo Seeking $1 Billion in Contempt-of-Court Sanctions from DISH Network and EchoStar

TiVo is seeking nearly $1 billion in damages from DISH Network and EchoStar in the so-called "Time Warp" DVR technology patent case between the companies. The figure was revealed in a July 13th filing by DISH Network and EchoStar (first brought to light by blogger, Dave Zatz) in response to a June 26th sealed motion by TiVo, in which the latter laid out its case for the sanctions that should be imposed on DISH Network and EchoStar for having been ruled in contempt of court last month for continuing to infringe upon TiVo's Time Warp patent via a supposed "workaround." The DISH/EchoStar filing attempted to postpone a hearing on sanctions, pending the companies' appeal of the contempt ruling. However, the judge in the case, David Folsom, has since scheduled a hearing for July 28th. In addition to finding DISH Network and EchoStar to be in contempt of court in his ruling last month, Judge Folsom ordered DISH Network to disable nearly 4 million of its DVR's and to pay TiVo an additional $103 million (plus interest) in damages. A US appeals court subsequently granted DISH Network a stay of the order to disable the DVR's. (Note: for more background on the "Time Warp" patent case, see the articles published on itvt.com, June 3rd and 17th.)