Dish-TiVo legal wrangling continues over patent

NEW YORK Jan 13 (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp (DISH.O) and EchoStar Corp (SATS.O) on Tuesday welcomed the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office's decision to reexamine a patent infringement claim involving TiVo's (TIVO.O) software.

But TiVo countered that the USPTO action was routine and that it believed ultimately the office would rule in favor of its Time Warp patent.

The companies have been wrangling for years over TiVo's Time Warp software that allows users to record one television program while watching another via a digital video recorder.

"The PTO found that there is a 'substantial new question' of patentability as to the software claims in light of prior patents that appear to render TiVo's '389 patent invalid," Dish, formerly known as EchoStar Communications Corp, said in a statement.

TiVo later released a statement saying the USPTO conducted a prior re-examination of the Time Warp patent at EchoStar's request, which concluded last November with the USPTO issuing a re-examination certificate.

"The USPTO grants most patent re-examination requests," TiVo said. "Contrary to EchoStar's statement, the USPTO made no substantive findings.

"We are confident that the USPTO will once again confirm the validity of all of the claims of the Time Warp patent." (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)