TiVo won another important patent victory over Comcast in a New York court on October 2nd. However, there is confusion over comments – and promises – made in the court.

The verdict, made by the US District Court of the Southern District of New York (and concerning patent ref: 8,122,034 and which discloses technology related to smart searching features), was welcomed by TiVo.

“This SDNY decision shines a light on our evidence that Comcast’s technology infringes Rovi’s patents – something we have known for years. We are pleased by this victory and will always fight to protect our patents and technology. We look forward to closing the door on this case and being fairly compensated for the use of our patented technology,” said Arvin Patel, Chief Intellectual Property Officer and EVP at Rovi – which acquired TiVo in 2016.

However, during the hearing Judge Andrew Borrok asked the parties, and in particular TiVo, to explain how a promise made during the case that TiVo/Rovi would not sue set-top box maker Arris over disputed patents. (Arris has been named in several of TiVo’s actions).

TiVo and Comcast have been at each other’s throats for some time over patent usage. Recently, TiVo CEO David Shull has promised to keep filing patent disputes in an attempt to force Comcast into the position of having to disable key product features on its set-top boxes.

Meanwhile, as recently as September 23rd, Comcast restarted its Remote DVR functionality on its Xfinity Stream devices after a two-year gap. Comcast has developed a work-around which they say avoids the TiVo patents.

Categories: Articles, Policy, PVR, Regulation, STB