Appeals court to hear TiVo-EchoStar dispute

A patent dispute between EchoStar Communications Corp., owner of the Dish satellite TV network, and TiVo Inc. is headed for federal appeals court in Washington after a judge rejected EchoStar’s bid for a new trial.

U.S. District Judge David Folsom in Texarkana, Texas, said Monday that EchoStar failed to raise new issues in its appeal for another trial.

In April, a jury found that Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar made and sold digital video recorders that infringed Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo’s patented technology for pausing live television and recording one show while watching another. Folsom, who presided over that trial, ordered EchoStar to pay $89.6 million in damages -- more than the $74 million the jury had awarded.

The federal appeals court in Washington had temporarily blocked Folsom’s order that EchoStar disable about 4 million of its set-top boxes. Dish is the nation’s second-largest satellite TV provider, behind El Segundo-based DirecTV Group Inc.

Separately, TiVo said Tuesday that it would start selling space for advertisements after television programs.

Companies including General Motors Corp. and Burger King Corp. will use the service, which allows them to target viewers of specific shows, TiVo said. The ads pop up at the end of a show, and subscribers can choose to view them or not.