Summary
One of TiVo's long-loved charms was that its patented DVR technology seemed to give it a bit of control over the now-crowded and increasingly popular DVR market. But holes continue to emerge, among them the Dish litigation and the RS-DVR.
Analysis
Years ago, TiVo was the cool new technology that seemed ready to take the world by storm. Today, TiVo's basic concept remains enormously popular and must-have, but TiVo the company sees an increasing number of competitors offering similar service. TiVo supporters have responded that TiVo's early patents will protect TiVo from this run of competiton, as TiVo was early to the patent office for the DVR concept. But as time goes on, it's not clear that's right.
Two examples of where the wheels are coming loose:
1. The Dish litigation. TiVo has tried for years now to use its foundational DVR patent to push Dish either out of the DVR business or into a licensing deal. But, despite a payment for past infringement, Dish has not yet given in. Indeed, in February, Dish and TiVo will return to court in Texas to address yet a new spate of legal arguments about Dish's alleged work-around.
2. The RS-DVR. Meanwhile, a cable company has rolled out a "remote" DVR product that in essence leaves the push buttons in your living room, but moves the hard drive and the brains of the DVR to a centralized server farm. The result is a device with a mix of pros and cons (easier to maintain for the company; harder to justify under current copyright law; etc.) but, vis-a-vis TiVo, one has to wonder whether TiVo's original patents will cover this variation on the DVR concept, given that this is not a home-based one-box system.
In short, TiVo's patents are important to the company; but the jury is still out about whether they are strong enough to protect the firm now that TiVo is far from alone in this space.
