Dish Network sues TiVo

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 31 (UPI) -- U.S. digital video company TiVo Inc. has responded to a suit filed against it by Dish Network Corp. in an ongoing battle over patent infringement.

Dish Network, a satellite television provider based in Englewood, Colo., filed the lawsuit in Wilmington, Del., in response to statements by TiVo in which the DVR maker alleged that a second version of Dish Network's own digital video recording system violated patents TiVo holds on such technology, the Wall Street Journal reported.

TiVo had previously sued Dish Network and its affiliated company, EchoStar Corp., in 2004, winning a $74 million jury award, contending the Colorado companies' first DVR platform had illegally duplicated TiVo's feature allowing TV watchers to rewind and fast-forward live programming on demand.

Dish Network is appealing that ruling, the Journal said.

In the meantime, Dish Network has developed a newer version of its own digital video recorder product, but that version also violates a patent, TiVo officials said, triggering a new round of legal tussles.