TiVO vs. Dish: Both Stocks Lose in the Fight

The never ending saga of Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) versus TiVO Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) ends up hurting shareholders more while the two companies duke it out in court over technology patents.  Today TIVO shares are the big loser down 14% while DISH shares are off 2%, but the battle is far from over.

Yesterday EchoStar Corp (NADAQ:SATS) and DISH Network Corp (DISH) won a stay, pending their appeal, of a Texas court's order that they disable millions of digital video recorders that infringe on TiVo Inc's (TIVO) patent for "time warp" technology.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Wednesday also sped up the schedule for the appeal by set-top box maker EchoStar and satellite pay TV provider DISH so that the case will be placed on the court's November calendar, if possible.

The appeals court found that DISH and EchoStar had met their "burden of proof of demonstrating the requisites for a stay" by showing that they could prevail in their appeal or that they have a "substantial case" and could suffer potential harm from the lower court order. The appeals court order finalizes a temporary stay it granted last month in a long-running case over Tivo's "Time Warp" software, which allows users to record one TV program while watching another.

DUMB AND DUMBER

In 2006, a jury awarded TiVo about $74 million in damages plus interest, for a total payment by EchoStar and DISH of $104 million.

U.S. District Judge David Folsom imposed additional damages of $103 million plus interest against DISH and EchoStar for continuing to infringe on TiVo's patent while they appealed the jury verdict. That appeal was unsuccessful.

Then in his final order on June 2, Folson gave DISH and EchoStar 30 days to disable all but about 200,000 infringing DVRs distributed among their 13.6 million customers.

DISH and EchoStar immediately vowed to appeal the order, and a day later obtained a temporary stay from the federal appeals court.

Think this war is over?

Expect more patent fights from Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) and TiVO Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) which will only hurt shareholders as the mess continues.  I'd rather listen to Lloyd and Harry sing Mockingbird than buy shares of either company: