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TiVo (TIVO) shares this morning are heading lower after the company said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has granted a request by EchoStar (SATS) to stay a contempt order imposed  by a lower court pending the outcome of EchoStar’s appeal in the the patent dispute between the two companies.

One week ago exactly, TiVo’s (TIVO) stock jumped from $7 to close at $10.70 after their win over Dish/Echostar (DISH) in the Eastern District of Texas Court. You may recall another litigation stock, Tessera (TSRA), which recently had a big win in another venue, the US International Trade Commission. TSRA jumped from $16 to $20 where it drifted for three days before resuming its rise. TSRA then rose from 19 to ~$24 before a follow on event occurred (the Motorola (MOT) License with Tessera) that caused TSRA’s stock to jump to $27.

Tuesday’s win by TiVo (TIVO) in their case vs. Echostar (Dish Network) (DISH) is a game changer in more ways than one. First, allow me to review some of the history of this case.

Good news for Dish Network (DISH) subscribers that don't want to see their DVRs disable.

Late this evening, a Federal Appeals Court stayed a ruling in the Eastern District of Texas, which found that Dish was in patent violation, requiring it to pay a fee and turn off this crucial feature.

It's not clear how long they have now, and the burden on the companies to overturn the ruling will be tall. But getting some help outside of the plaintiff-friendly Texas court winds them some breathing room.

Read the rest of this story »

TiVo (TIVO) shares were up $3.72, or 53%, today, after the company won a major legal victory against Dish Network (DISH), in a five-year fight over patents concerning digital video recorders, or DVRS.

In the “Barron’s Take,” on Barron’s home page, I’ve posted an article on why TiVo shares could continue to rise. Basically, the headlines don’t say how big the royalty stream could be from Dish — assuming Dish doesn’t manage to delay things further, which I think is unlikely. The cruxt of the piece is as follows: