Fox Broadcasting and Dish Network, up to now both serious litigants in their arguments over Dish’s AutoHop ad-skipping technology, have jointly asked a California judge to pause their actions.

Currently, the two are working to a 2010 provisional agreement which allows broadcasting – and the AutoHop/Hopper technology – to continue. A full trial was slated for to start within the next few weeks in a process that started in May 2012.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that a Court document was filed on January 15th to stay the case pending a “highly likely negotiation later this year that will result in the resolution of the lawsuit”.

It is not as yet clear why barely ten days ago the two parties were reporting to the court that a mediation session had failed to result in a settlement.  However, on January 12th it appears that Judge Dolly Gee issued a summary judgement, under seal (which means its content cannot be published), but which clearly motivated both parties in the litigation to pause and reflect.

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