Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)
With intellectual property questions taking a larger portion of
Internet-related discussions in the last couple of years, this
move should keep people talking: digital video recorder TiVo
bought six patents tied to audience research and measurement,
integrating television signals to Internet access, and more, from
IBM at the end of March. In a statement, TiVo spokesman David Shane
said the company has "placed great emphasis on developing and
protecting our intellectual property, and we believe these patents
will help us toward that end." The patents are also said to
cover automatic rescheduling of recordings, content screening,
enhanced program information search, and electronic program guide
interface enhancements. The IBM deal follows TiVo¹s receiving of
five patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, raising
TiVo's total patent grants to 76, with a reported 106 still
pending, according to several reports. TiVo filed a report April
6 with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealing the patent
purchase and expiration dates (between the end of 2015 and early
2020), but details about the financial side of the deal have not
been disclosed just yet. Analysts are said to believe that
TiVo's overall patent portfolio provides potential muscle in an
ongoing patent infringement battle with satellite TV company
EchoStar Communications, which TiVo sued more than a year ago,
charging EchoStar and its affiliates with infringing on TiVo's
time-warping patent. TiVo's SEC filing came on the same day the
company extended its relationship with DirecTV, TiVo's biggest new
subscriber source. The IBM patent deal came a few weeks after TiVo
won a contract to provide digital video recording technology to
Comcast, the U.S.'s top cable television operator.
With intellectual property questions taking a larger portion of
Internet-related discussions in the last couple of years, this
move should keep people talking: digital video recorder TiVo
bought six patents tied to audience research and measurement,
integrating television signals to Internet access, and more, from
IBM at the end of March. In a statement, TiVo spokesman David Shane
said the company has "placed great emphasis on developing and
protecting our intellectual property, and we believe these patents
will help us toward that end." The patents are also said to
cover automatic rescheduling of recordings, content screening,
enhanced program information search, and electronic program guide
interface enhancements. The IBM deal follows TiVo¹s receiving of
five patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, raising
TiVo's total patent grants to 76, with a reported 106 still
pending, according to several reports. TiVo filed a report April
6 with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealing the patent
purchase and expiration dates (between the end of 2015 and early
2020), but details about the financial side of the deal have not
been disclosed just yet. Analysts are said to believe that
TiVo's overall patent portfolio provides potential muscle in an
ongoing patent infringement battle with satellite TV company
EchoStar Communications, which TiVo sued more than a year ago,
charging EchoStar and its affiliates with infringing on TiVo's
time-warping patent. TiVo's SEC filing came on the same day the
company extended its relationship with DirecTV, TiVo's biggest new
subscriber source. The IBM patent deal came a few weeks after TiVo
won a contract to provide digital video recording technology to
Comcast, the U.S.'s top cable television operator.
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