Justices won’t hear Dish case

The Supreme Court refused Monday to disturb a $74-million judgment against Dish Network Corp. for violating a patent held by TiVo Inc. involving digital video recorders.

Without comment, the justices declined to consider Dish’s appeal.

In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with a lower court that digital video recorders distributed by Dish, formerly known as EchoStar Communications Corp., violated the software elements of Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo’s patent.

The ruling overturned the lower court’s finding that Dish also infringed the patent’s hardware elements.

TiVo sued in 2004, alleging that EchoStar, a satellite broadcaster, infringed TiVo’s patented technology that enables viewers to record one program while watching another.