Microsoft Sues TiVo To Help AT&T

Julie188 writes "Microsoft is suing TiVo, claiming patent infringement. Microsoft is doing this because TiVo has sued AT&T — and AT&T happens to be Microsoft's largest customer of Microsoft's Mediaroom IPTV technology. Microsoft says that TiVo has copied Microsoft's Mediaroom IPTV technology in its DVRs. If Microsoft wins, it would effectively block TiVo from selling DVRs without a licensing deal with Microsoft."

Comments

Patent infringement is a nuclear weapon

[amn108]

You gotta love how companies have found exactly what to do with patent infringements - put them in a bag and keep them stored away well under room temperature until the right moment when these can be enjoyed - such as, at a time when they can be used to scare or threaten competitors or help achieve a goal. Patent infringement is not patent infringement until such time when it can be exploited to the limit.

Humans are so damn smart it is scary.

Re:Patent infringement is a nuclear weapon

[Jeng]

Devils Advocate.
Hard to know if something infringes on your patent if you don't know the implementation.

Tivo's lawsuit against AT&T gave Microsoft the groundwork necessary to compare how Tivo's system works in comparison to Microsoft's system. /Devils Advocate

Suing TiVo for delivering content ?

[BlueTrin]

Suing TiVo for delivering content ?

Next is Neanderthal suing them for using fire or a wheel ?

Tivo

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

The ATT/Microsoft/Motorola DVR sucks giant donkey dicks. You can bet that ATT only wished they could use Tivo technology. We had Uverse installed and ended up using our Tivos downstream of the ATT DVRs, they sucked that bad. The smart thing would have been for ATT to license the Tivo design instead of the locked-down bogus Microsoft design.

Re:Tivo

[Dun Malg]

Microsoft bought the stock directly from AT&T, so yes, they did pay them... directly. There is a difference, but it's largely semantic.

HOWEVER, this stock buy was in 1999, and the deal was with the old AT&T, not the current AT&T who used to be SBC before they bought the name. The old AT&T from which Microsoft bought $5 billion worth of stock is essentially now a chunk of Comcast, who bought AT&T's cable TV division. The $400 million dollar deal between Microsoft and AT&T for the Uverse infrastructure is wholly unrelated to the earlier deal.

Hoist on their own petard...

[jedidiah]

Live by the patent, die by the patent...

The same nonsense that allowed Tivo to run amok is now being turned back against it.

None of these shenanigans should be tolerated by anyone at all.

Re:Hoist on their own petard...

[diamondsw]

Except Tivo wasn't a patent troll - they actually produced a best-of-class product that the courts agreed was being infringed on. I know patent litigation is unpopular (and for good reason), but Tivo appeared to be a case where it was Working As Intended.

We'll see with Microsoft, although the timing is certainly suspect.

Re:Sure have been a lot of patent suits lately

[TubeSteak]

What makes you think any of these companies want reform?
They love this game of Mutually Assured Destruction.
They end up cross licensing patents and it creates barries for upstarts.

More importantly, they have the money and the lobbyists to keep the game rigged in their favor.