TiVo announced today that it has settled pending patent litigation with Verizon. The two companies have entered into a mutual patent licensing arrangement under which Verizon will provide TiVo “total compensation worth at least $250.4 million.”
Part of the agreement involves TiVo and Verizon “exploring, among other things, future distribution of Internet video services developed through Verizon’s joint venture with Redbox.” This would include making content distributed via that service part of the content accessible via TiVo’s DVR products. More on the Verizon/Redbox offering here.
Verizon’s payments to TiVo will consist of a $100 million initial cash payment, and then recurring quarterly payments adding up to an additional $150.4 million through July of 2018.
TiVo says that if the companies decide to pursue certain commercial endeavors before December 21 of this year, up to $29.4 million of the payments made by Verizon would be subject to a credit of an equal amount.
Verizon will also pay monthly license fees through July 2018 for each Verizon DVR subscriber “in excess of certain pre-determined levels.”
“We are pleased to reach an agreement with Verizon which 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,” said TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers.
“We also look forward to working together on a variety of future opportunities as we continue to expand the content choices available to TiVo subscribers,” he added. “As with prior settlements, we also benefit by being able to operate our business under license from Verizon and by avoiding future legal expenses that we would have incurred during and after trial. Furthermore, we believe this settlement positions us well with respect to future enforceability of our patents.”
Verizon and TiVo have agreed to dismiss all pending litigation.