Comcast X1 Platform ‘Continues to Incur Liability’ for Infringing TiVo IP, Says New TiVo CEO

New TiVo CEO Dave Shull is “always willing to enter into a productive business dialogue” to license TiVo’s intellectual property to Comcast, “but in the meanwhile we are committed to the litigation and Comcast continues to incur liability for their violations of our IP," he said on a Q2 earnings call Wednesday. “Litigation is a core part of any IP business,” said Shull, hired May 31 as TiVo CEO after careers at the Weather Channel and Dish Network. “While I would always prefer to get to a fair business deal without litigation, if the other party is not reasonable then we have no choice but to litigate.” TiVo declared “legal victory” June 4 after winning a “favorable determination” from an International Trade Commission administrative judge that Comcast’s X1 platform infringes TiVo-owned Rovi patents. “We have a portfolio of more than 5,000 patents and applications, hundreds of which cover technology innovations” for the X1 “user experience,” said Shull. “While Comcast may be able to design around any single patent if we are able to demonstrate that they have violated even a small percentage of these hundreds of patents, the Comcast service will likely continue to lose features that are important to their customers.” Since the ITC process allows TiVo to bring infringement actions on only “a few of these patents at a time, we committed to this lengthy process at the outset,” he said. Comcast didn’t comment Thursday.