It's good to see TiVo
That patent, issued to TiVo five years ago, covers many of the processes that we've come to associate with DVRs, including pausing live television, as well as simultaneously storing and playing back programs.
The awarded damages are nice, but the implications are even nicer.
Shares of TiVo have been stuck in the single digits for years as investors grapple with the percolating potential of DVRs, which is offset by red ink because of costly hardware subsidizing by TiVo, as well as by the attack of the clones. Even a company like DirecTV
TiVo may be one of the coolest recommendations in the Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter service, but its pitiful performance has also made it a major laggard on the otherwise buoyant scorecard.
This morning's announcement may not change that overnight, but it will give clones more reasons to worry. Cable and satellite television giants like Comcast
TiVo has always been the only brand name that matters in DVR technology, even if only a shrinking majority of new DVR installations are actual TiVo boxes. If this is the kind of ruling that inspires more companies to play nice with TiVo and provide it with the means to cash in on high-margin licensing royalties, maybe we won't be that far away from seeing TiVo in the double digits again after all.
TiVo is a Stock Advisor pick. Take the newsletter for a 30-day free trial.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has been a TiVo user for ages. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. Rick does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy.