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1.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 1:04pm

   
   

   we need to completely get rid of the patent system... :P
   
   1st

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2.  

   Re:

   

   Monarch, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 1:15pm

   
   

   And that Judge in Hickville Texas that keeps siding with the Patents!!!

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3.  

   Breaking (?) news

   

   xrayspex, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 1:23pm

   
   

   Not so fast

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4.  

   Haven't you noticed...

   

   Sanguine Dream, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 1:24pm

   
   

   that when a patent related lawsuit comes out (they happen about as often as movie releases now) its usually many years after the defendant has been in business. I don't know about you guys but if I patent a product and I find out about someone's else's product and I think it infringes on my copyright/trademark/whatever I'm gonna stop them before they get off the ground. Why? I don't want to risk losing the lawsuit. For the most part the only reason a company would wait so long is that they want to try to settle for some ungodly amount of money and hopefully collect licensing fees. Greedy bitches. That's why I really hated Netflix for trying to sue Blockbuster (I wonder how that's going now) almost 2 years after Blockbuster Online was started.

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5.  

   Re: Breaking (?) news

   

   Mike (profile), Aug 18th, 2006 @ 1:59pm

   
   

   That's not breaking. I mentioned it in the post, noting that the Appeals Court already said they would stay the injunction.

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6.  

   Flipside of the coin

   

   Cameron Watters, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 2:07pm

   
   

   It's also entirely possible that, if the infringer is the more financially stable/flush company, the infringer may be able to effectively neutralize the patentholder's ability to gain legal rememdy simply by prolonging a court battle.
   
   While it may not be true in this case, if the patentholder is SO materially damaged by the infringement that it leads to the holder's going out of business, no fine will ever remedy it becuase they'll run out of money before they can be awarded such a fine in court. Unfortunately, the courts don't continue to press your case on your behalf if you run out of money/lawyers.

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7.  

   injunction worthy?

   

   Jon Healey, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 2:47pm

   
   

   IMHO, this is exactly the kind of patent infringement that *would* merit an injunction. TiVo offers a product based on its patent. Echostar used an infringing product to do the same thing TiVo does. TiVo's goal here is to sell its technology and gain subscriber revenues -- in other words, it's not simply a patent-licensing shop whose ultimate goal is to negotiate a higher fee.

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8.  

   

   Sheesh, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 3:16pm

   
   

   In another newswire, it states that TiVo has not sued before, because they were in talks to license their technology to Dish like they did with DirecTV. When those talks broke down and Dish started shipping their (allegedly) infringing product, TiVo need additional time to figure out its options.
   
   Sheesh, talk about people who only are one-sided. Anti-Patent holder.... some of these suits are actually legitimate and not just sucking for undue monies.

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9.  

   PATENT

   

   mke, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 6:42pm

   
   

   I believe reply tv was the first anyway.I think they should ge sueing TIVO.

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10.  

    it goes both ways

    

    Frink, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 10:23pm

    
    

    There is also an ongoing patent infringement suit against TiVo filed by EchoStar. It will be a long time before any of this crap gets figured out and in the end only customers will suffer any substantial loss in the form of higher prices and/or loss of services. It's just the same old patent game where companies fight over who gets to squeeze the most money out of the consumer.

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11.  

    Re: it goes both ways

    

    markethag1, Aug 18th, 2006 @ 11:58pm

    
    

    Right. The Echostar against TiVo begins in February, 07, involving a different patent. I think it's a case where the big guy thinks he can squeeze the little guy 'till he's bone dry. Doesn't look like it'll happen this time. While Echostar convinced the court that the harm that it caused TiVo was not willful, it did borrow, use and hurt TiVo -- for years. Why not license with TiVo? Echostar needs the money to develop its own DVR? Why not show a little humility and good will until things are worked out. Those things are beyond conception maybe.

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12.  

    Re: Tivo and Echostar...

    

    fuzzi, Aug 19th, 2006 @ 4:40am

    
    

    I read in another post that the reason the judge implemented the injunction was due to Echostar's "willful" violation of Tivo's patent. As was noted, Tivo was in negotiations to license the patent to Echostar but Echostar decided to simply steal it.
    
    So don't go feeling all sorry for Echostar, they caused the problem now must deal with the consequences.

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13.  

    Re: Re: Tivo and Echostar...

    

    Mike (profile), Aug 19th, 2006 @ 10:48am

    
    

    I read in another post that the reason the judge implemented the injunction was due to Echostar's "willful" violation of Tivo's patent. As was noted, Tivo was in negotiations to license the patent to Echostar but Echostar decided to simply steal it.
    
    Actually, the judge found the opposite. He found that it was not willful infringement, which is why he didn't triple damages.

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14.  

    Re: Re: it goes both ways

    

    Frink, Aug 19th, 2006 @ 11:31pm

    
    

    Since when did humility and good will become part of patent battles? The object is for the side with the most money and/or power to crush the other. It's the American way.

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