(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Shares of TiVo fell nearly 7% in after hours trading when the digital video recording provider said an appellate court had given EchoStar Communications a reprieve in the pair's ongoing patent battle.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted EchoStar's request for a stay on an injunction that would have banned the satellite TV provider from making or selling DVR products in the US, TiVo said.
As a result, the ban, which also would have forced EchoStar to disable machines already found in customers' homes, will be postponed, pending the outcome of EchoStar's appeal.
TiVo sued Englewood, Colorado-based EchoStar in January 2004, alleging EchoStar and certain subsidiaries violated TiVo's 'time warp' patent that relates to the storage and playback of television programming.
A jury ruled in April that EchoStar infringed on TiVo's patented TV-viewing technology in making set-top boxes for its customers.
In August, the federal district court judge who presided over the jury trial in Texas issued the injunction against EchoStar and ordered the company to pay TiVo $89.6 million in damages.
EchoStar appealed and said it was 'pleased' the appellate court blocked the Texas decision pending its appeal. TiVo downplayed the appellate decision as a routine legality.
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