MooJohn
join:2005-12-18
Milledgeville, GA
 ·Windstream
| Tivo blows
Yep, apparently only one company is supposed to be allowed to offer an onscreen guide with recording ability. I'm sure Tivo has patented nearly every button on the remote control and the order and manner by which they're accessed.
I'll take my Dish recorder over a Tivo box any day.
For my non-satellite sources, I use a multi-tuner box running GBPVR 
It's absurdly easy to get a patent -- you just need a concept, not a method!
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John M - Cranky network guy |
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wanderance
join:2002-07-09
USA
| Doesn't have anything to do with the guide, has to do with the "time warp". At the time that TiVo patented it, it was a very revolutionary idea.
If you look at the history of TiVo / Dish it is pretty clear that Dish simply stole the tech inside the dev box TiVo sent to them. This entire thing is from the Series 1 days.
TiVo didn't just go after Dish because they felt like it (and not every other DVR manufacture out there), they went after them because it is obvious they ganked the tech. |
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
 ·Comcast
| said by wanderance  :Doesn't have anything to do with the guide, has to do with the "time warp". At the time that TiVo patented it, it was a very revolutionary idea. If you look at the history of TiVo / Dish it is pretty clear that Dish simply stole the tech inside the dev box TiVo sent to them. This entire thing is from the Series 1 days. TiVo didn't just go after Dish because they felt like it (and not every other DVR manufacture out there), they went after them because it is obvious they ganked the tech. I agree. Not all patents are bogus. TIVO did create the original DVR and Dish flat out stole out. They SHOULD have to pay royalties.
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to wanderance
said by wanderance :Doesn't have anything to do with the guide, has to do with the "time warp". At the time that TiVo patented it, it was a very revolutionary idea. ReplayTV. |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to TK Junk Mail
said by TK Junk Mail :I agree. Not all patents are bogus. This one is. Obviousness is supposed to be a consideration. And TIVO was well behind ReplayTV.TIVO did create the original DVR and Dish flat out stole out. They SHOULD have to pay royalties. So says TIVO. I seriously doubt it. Ergen is not stupid. The patent is.
--
"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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Jaghar
join:2001-01-30
Painesville, OH | How is the patent stupid? |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | It shouldn't exist, for reasons including prior art, and obviousness. |
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast
| said by KrK :It shouldn't exist, for reasons including prior art, and obviousness. The court evidently disagrees with you. In fact now 2 courts disagree, because the appeals court upheld the trial court.
--
My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page |
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Thespis
join:2004-08-03
Keller, TX
 ·Verizon FIOS
edit:
April 12th, @06:07PM
| reply to KrK
said by KrK :This one is. Obviousness is supposed to be a consideration. And TIVO was well behind ReplayTV. Both companies were created in 1997.
Replay TV launched two months before Tivo.
I'll let others judge if two months is "well behind". |
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insomniac
Oh Yeah
Premium
join:2002-09-22
Naperville, IL
clubs: | reply to KrK
What about them? TiVo had units in customers' hands before they did. |
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Jaghar
join:2001-01-30
Painesville, OH
| reply to MooJohn
I find it completely reasonable that 2 companies can create different technologies to complete the same task (Replay/Tivo).
When a 3rd party comes along and uses any of that technology, without prior arrangement, that's patent infringement.
Either way, it would be nice if Tivo and Directv had some adequate competition to keep my Directv prices down.
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We will always be much more human than we wish to be. |
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wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·Teliax VOIP
·Cox HSI
| reply to KrK
said by KrK :said by TK Junk Mail :I agree. Not all patents are bogus. This one is. Obviousness is supposed to be a consideration. And TIVO was well behind ReplayTV. If they were "well behind" replay, then how on earth did they make it to market several months ahead of Replay?
BTW, many of TiVo's patents were "stupid," hence their being lost on patent office re-examination. The "time warp" patent wasn't obvious, or they would have lost it, too.
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It's wierdo, not weirdo. Yes, I know that's not the 'proper' spelling of the similar english language word.  |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to MooJohn
said by MooJohn :Yep, apparently only one company is supposed to be allowed to offer an onscreen guide with recording ability. I'm sure Tivo has patented nearly every button on the remote control and the order and manner by which they're accessed. I'll take my Dish recorder over a Tivo box any day. For my non-satellite sources, I use a multi-tuner box running GBPVR It's absurdly easy to get a patent -- you just need a concept, not a method! tivo sucks. thumbs up
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth |
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Qumahlin
Never Enough Time
Premium,MVM
join:2001-10-05
West Chester, PA
edit:
April 13th, @01:39PM
| reply to MooJohn
said by MooJohn :It's absurdly easy to get a patent -- you just need a concept, not a method! You've clearly never applied for a patent. Not that i'm defending the USA's shit patent system, but I can assure you it's a little more difficult then just having a concept |
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Siryak
join:2005-11-26
 ·WildBlue
| reply to TK Junk Mail
said by TK Junk Mail :said by KrK :It shouldn't exist, for reasons including prior art, and obviousness. The court evidently disagrees with you. In fact now 2 courts disagree, because the appeals court upheld the trial court. The court also approved a lawsuit to McDonalds for having their coffee too hot. *rolls eyes* |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | reply to insomniac
Re: Tivo blows
ReplayTV beat TIVO to market. They both came on the scene pretty close together. TIVO was second, a few months behind ReplayTV. |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to wierdo
said by wierdo :If they were "well behind" replay, then how on earth did they make it to market several months ahead of Replay? Well, they must of used that Patented Time-Warp feature to leap ahead, ReplayTV came out in January 1999, and Tivo's first unit was April, so in a non-time warped universe, ReplayTV was first.
Once the DVR was out, and time-shifting, pausing, jumping forward to real time, etc were all out the so-called "time warp" feature becomes an obvious extension of the technology.
Echostar's first DVR's were built on Microsoft software and didn't actually get released until a few months after TIVO, however Echostar had been showing off the hardware while waiting on the software for months.
The simple fact is these DVR's were developed at the same time. Nobody stole or copied someone else's code, but TIVO was granted a patent on a feature that was common to them all, and now is going sue-happy.
It's a common problem.
--
"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | reply to TK Junk Mail
Yes, the Court disagrees with Justice and what is right all the time. As for the Appeals Court, that means little because all they rule on is if an error was made in the procedure of the first trial, and don't actually deal with the issue at hand. |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to Thespis
said by Thespis :I'll let others judge if two months is "well behind". True, but prior art is prior art, and once the first DVR features were being created, the so called "Time-warp" feature becomes an obvious extension of the technology. In reality, all these DVR's (ReplayTV, TIVO, Echostar's) were being developed with similar features by different people at the same time. Nobody "stole" anything. TIVO just got the patent on a "feature" and is going sue happy.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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