TiVo is Sued for Patent Infringement

Reprinted from a Pause Technology LLC press release:

Pause Technology LLC has announced that on
Tuesday, September 25th, it filed a lawsuit against Tivo Inc,
for patent infringement. Filed in the U.S. District
Court in Boston by the law firm of Hale and Dorr LLP, the lawsuit
alleges that Tivo’s personal video recorder (PVR) infringes U.S.
Reissue Patent No. 36,801, entitled “Time Delayed Digital Video
System Using Concurrent Recording and Playback.” The patent is owned
by Pause Technology.

The patent relates to technology that allows viewers to pause live
TV, replay portions of a program while it is being recorded, and
fast-forward through recorded segments to “catch up” to a live
broadcast being recorded. The patent covers both video and audio
systems.

The infringed patent, U.S. Patent RE 36,801
,the “Pause Patent”, was
originally filed in 1992 and issued in 1995. In 1996, a
re-examination was requested, and on August 1, 2000 the patent was
reissued by the Patent Office with the same filing date and
additional claim coverage.

TiVo was notified on April 4th, 2000 and again on May 23, 2001 that
it was infringing on the patent and an offer to discuss licensing
terms was extended.

Earlier this year, Motorola became the first company to license the
Pause Patent for its forthcoming line of PVR-enabled set-top boxes.

Pause Technology is engaged in on-going discussions with several
other potential licensees through its exclusive distributor Gotuit
Video, Inc. Licenses are being offered to manufacturers of PVRs,
set-top boxes with built-in storage, and other devices that can
record and pause live TV signals.