DirecTV Doesn’t Have to Give Data to EchoStar

DirecTV Group Inc., the largest U.S. satellite television provider, doesn’t have to provide rival EchoStar Communications Corp. with competitive data for a patent infringement lawsuit between TiVo Inc. and EchoStar.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ralph Zarefsky in Los Angeles denied EchoStar’s request that would have compelled DirecTV to provide profit margins from sales of digital video recorders as well as internal documents regarding DirecTV obtaining a license from TiVo.

The requested information was neither relevant nor necessary for the lawsuit, Zarefsky said in ruling dated Thursday.

EchoStar, the No. 2 U.S. satellite TV provider, had sought the documents for a lawsuit that TiVo filed in January 2004 in Texas, accusing EchoStar of infringing a TiVo patent on technology for recording one program while replaying another.

TiVo, based in Alviso, Calif., sells most of its recorders through DirecTV, which isn’t part of the patent lawsuit.

Steve Caulk, a spokesman for Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar, didn’t immediately return a call to his office after business hours.

DirecTV spokesman Bob Marsocci also didn’t immediately return a call to his office.

Shares of El Segundo-based DirecTV rose 21 cents to $16.06. EchoStar shares fell 31 cents to $29.39.