Verizon Wireless has agreed to resolve its patent infringement lawsuit with TiVo and ActiveVideo Networks by paying more than $510m over infringement of features of its FiOS TV service.
New York based firm has signed a licensing agreement with TiVo and pay about $250.4m in a bid to end a dispute over digital-video-recording services, with initial cash payment of about $100m, followed by recurring quarterly payments of $150.4m through July 2018.
TiVo CEO and President Tom Rogers said both the firms have reached an agreement which underscores the significant value TiVo’s distribution partners derive from the firms technological innovations and shareholders derive from its investments in protecting TiVo’sintellectual property.
"As with prior settlements, we also benefit by being able to operate our business under license from Verizon and by avoiding future legal expenses that we would have incurred during and after trial. Furthermore, we believe this settlement positions us well with respect to future enforceability of our patents."
The firm would also pay CloudTV developer ActiveVideo about $260m over its video-on-demand aspect.
According to Verizon, the cases will eliminate a drag on a service that it was trying to promote as consumers demand more from their televisions.
Verizon reported 16% rise in its FiOS Video connections by the end of the second quarter (Q2) of 2012 to 4.5 million, while its wireline division, including the FiOS TV, phone and Internet services produced $40.7bn in sales in 2011.
TiVo and Verizon’s case was set to trial on 01 October 2012 in a federal court in Marshall, Texas, US.
In addition, the company will pay monthly licence fees to each Verizon DVR subscriber up to July 2018 by crossing certain pre-determined levels.
