After leveraging its DVR patent portfolio into a $500 million settlement with Dish Network and Echostar TiVo has made it rain again, cutting a mutual patent licensing deal with AT&T that settles their litigation and will result in at least $215 million heading its way through 2018. Additional license fees are possible based on AT&T’s U-verse DVR subscriber base, so besides the $51 million up front and recurring payments after that, there could be even more money at stake. Despite intervention on its behalf by Microsoft, AT&T apparently decided caving was the best option. Next we’ll see what happens next in a similar battle with Verizon and whether TiVo decides to continue developing its products or just sit back and let the licensing money roll in. CEO Tom Rogers said in a statement (included after the break) that it provides TiVo rights to “innovate TiVo products and services under license from AT&T”, although if it were us we’d make the call after taking a Scrooge McDuck-style dive into a pool filled with Dish and AT&T’s money.
TiVo, AT&T patent settlement will send at least $215 million TiVo’s way through 2018 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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