Tech patents latest: Google, Cisco search pockets to sling $490m at TiVo

There you go, no need to worry about that trial, eh?

Googorola and Cisco have settled their upcoming patent infringement trial with TiVo out of court, agreeing to pay the telly box firm $490m upfront.

The patented technology in question covers the playing back of digital video that was recorded live, pausing said footage in the right place, and similar work; TiVo, a maker of digital video recorder boxes, has spent nearly a decade chasing companies it has accused of ripping off its designs.

Today, TiVo said it had now straightened things out with Motorola Mobility, now owned by Google (2012 profit: $10.7bn), and Cisco (2012: $8bn) along with Time Warner Cable - and that it had agreed to “certain patent licensing arrangements” with Google and Cisco for an upfront lump sum of $490m.

The settlements will stop the legal action from reaching an expensive trial, which would have centred on the digital video recorders made by Moto and Cisco.

The cash brings the total “from awards and settlements related to the use of certain TiVo intellectual property to roughly $1.6 billion”, the company said.

"We are pleased to reach an agreement that brings our pending litigation to an end and further underscores the significant value our distribution partners derive from TiVo's technological innovations and our shareholders derive from our investments in protecting TiVo's intellectual property," TiVo chief Tom Rogers said in a canned statement.

“Further, this settlement significantly enhances our already strong balance sheet, bringing our cash position to over $1 billion before inclusion of future expected payments of at least $400 million from prior settlements.”

The company said that part of the cash would be considered “past damages” and the rest would be recognised “over time”. ®