TiVo Wins Appeal Over Comcast

TiVo won an appeals court ruling that could help it in its long-running fight over patent royalties with Comcast, reported Bloomberg. 

An import ban on certain Comcast television set-top boxes issued by the US International Trade Commission was affirmed by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The decision involves the first of three disputes between the companies at the trade agency in Washington.

While the patents in this case expired last year, the ruling could help TiVo in its other two cases at the agency, where it’s seeking orders to limit imports of Comcast set-top boxes based on other TiVo patents. A decision in the second case at the agency is scheduled to be released March 26 and a judge is expected to release her findings in the third case in June.

TiVo’s Rovi unit and Comcast have been fighting since a royalty license expired in March 2016. Each has tried to gain a legal win that would give it leverage in negotiating a new license, with TiVo getting some victories at the trade agency and Comcast successfully challenging TiVo patents at the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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