TiVo Victorious

The AP reports: In a case considered crucial to TiVo's survival, a federal jury ruled that EchoStar (parent company of Dish network) willfully infringed nine sections of TiVo's patent on digital video recorder technology, and awarded TiVo $73.9 million in damages.

Analysts (myself included) believe this will not only give TiVo significant leverage in negotiating licensing deals with cable and satellite providers, but also in securing royalties from providers that use TiVo-like boxes from other manufacturers. (Comcast recently signed a licensing deal with TiVo, and DirecTV just extended theirs for three more years.)