• by Wayne Friedman , June 3, 2009

TiVo has won its latest round against satellite-television provider EchoStar in its patent-infringement case. A court ruled that EchoStar must pay TiVo $103 million. 

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found that EchoStar's software still infringes on TiVo's patents. The court found EchoStar to be in contempt of court, and ordered a permanent injunction first issued against the company four years ago to be fully enforced.

All this sent TiVo's stock soaring -- up 40% in mid-day trading to $9.77 a share. Dish EchoStar, which owns the Dish Network, saw its stock sink almost 4% to $15.76 a share.

Media analysts believe EchoStar's best efforts would come from partnering with TiVo to stem further financial losses. TiVo already partners with Comcast, Cox Cable and DirecTV.

TiVo started its infringement battle with EchoStar in 2004.

In April 2005, a Texas jury found EchoStar made a set-top box with digital-video-recorder capabilities that infringed on TiVo's patent for the technology, which allows consumers to record TV programs by storing them on a hard drive, enabling full DVD-like functionality including pause, rewind and fast-forward.

A judge ordered EchoStar to pay $94 million in damages, stop selling the equipment and turn off about 4 million of its DVRs. EchoStar then appealed, and a federal appeals court in Washington stayed the permanent injunction.