With TiVo having the edge in a recent claims construction
With TiVo having the edge in a recent claims construction in an infringement suit against Motorola Mobility, it may make sense for Google to buy TiVo to resolve the case, Janney Capital analyst Tony Wible said in a note to…
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clients. With Google potentially positioning Motorola Mobility for a sale, the set-top supplier “would be attractive” with TiVo software and have an edge on rival Cisco, Wible said. TiVo also sued Cisco for allegedly infringing its time-warp patent that allows for recording of one program while watching another. An outright purchase of TiVo by Google “may be one of the only cost effective ways to part with the Motorola unit and resolve current litigation,” Wible said. Motorola could face damages of $720 million -- TiVo has put it at $1 billion -- if the DVR developer prevails at a trial scheduled to start in May, Wible said. Wible’s damage estimate was based on TiVo being awarded 50 cents a month on 20 million installed cable set-tops over a six-year period, he said. In a recent claims construction hearing, TiVo prevailed on 81 percent of its claims, while 5 percent went to Motorola and another 14 percent were split, Wible said.