AT&T to pay $215M to TiVo to settle patent suit

[January 04, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- AT&T Inc. will pay TiVo Inc. at least $215 million through June 2018, becoming the latest TV signal provider to settle a patent lawsuit involving the digital video recorder pioneer.

AT&T could pay up to $300 million if subscriptions to its U-verse television package rise in line with AT&T forecasts, said TiVo spokesman Steve Wymer.

The settlement follows one that TiVo reached in May with satellite TV signal provider Dish Network Corp. and its set-top box provider, EchoStar Corp., for $500 million.

TiVo shares jumped $1.38, or 15.5 percent, to $10.30 in after-hours trading on the news.

TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said in a statement that the agreement "acknowledges the value of our intellectual property."

Founded in 1997, TiVo developed the first commercially available digital video recorder, making it easy for the first time for people to record programs and watch them later and to skip through advertisements.

[Associated Press]

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