TiVo Files Patent Infringement Suit Against EchoStar

TiVo Inc., maker of a digital-video recorder that can pause and replay television programs, filed a lawsuit Monday accusing EchoStar Communications Corp. of patent infringement.

In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Texas, TiVo said that EchoStar infringed the “time warp” patent, which protects a method that allows consumers to watch a program while it or another show is being recorded and a format for storing recorded programs.

EchoStar, owner of the No. 2 U.S. satellite-television service, is one of several companies that have introduced products that compete with TiVo.

Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo sells most of its recorders through DirecTV, EchoStar’s largest competitor.

The market is “growing rapidly and growth is accelerating,” TiVo Chief Executive Mike Ramsay said. “We’re very concerned that competitors like EchoStar might use our technology against us.”

EchoStar spokesman Steve Caulk said the company had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment. TiVo has been awarded 49 patents and has more than 100 patents pending, the company said in a statement. TiVo said it had registered the patent involved in this lawsuit in July 1998.

“If it’s determined that people are infringing on our property we will protect it,” Ramsay said. “We really picked our timing to coincide with the growth of this market.”

TiVo shares fell 29 cents to $7.58, and Littleton, Col.-based EchoStar shares fell 23 cents to $33.86, both on Nasdaq.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. last month acquired a controlling interest in DirecTV, the biggest U.S. satellite-television service.