 cdruGo ColtsPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:5
 ·Frontier FiOS
| reply to dvd536
Re: TiVo sues AT&T, Verizon for DVR patent infringement said by dvd536:Uhmmmmmmmmm ALL those were filed AFTER the VCR was in existance so tivo is really stepping on their patents when it comes to time shifting content. The first patent is in regards to saving to a MPEG stream. They didn't patent timeshifting, as you pointed out the VCR had long done that. It was the particular implementation where they convert the stream to MPEG (if it's not already) buffer, and then save the stream that is the basis of their patent.
VCRs could not simultaneously record one show while playing back an earlier portion of the same show or an entirely different show at the same time. Nor did VCRs automatically "rewind" a few seconds when you played after fast forwarding.
I'm not commenting on the validity of the patents, just that they are different then just a standard VCR. This is how patents work. They can sometimes be a completely unique invention that is not based on other existing inventions, or they may take an existing invention and improve on it in a significant manner. |
