TiVo agrees worldwide IP deal with Samsung

Tom Carson

TiVo and Samsung have agreed the terms of a broad intellectual property licence, suspending all pending patent litigation between the two companies.

The deal will provide certain rights under TiVo’s patent portfolios for Samsung’s mobile, consumer electronic and set-top box businesses.

TiVo said that as part of the deal, the parties will seek an immediate stay of all pending litigation and patent challenges between the two companies and, after satisfying certain conditions in Q4 2016, will seek to dismiss them.

In TiVo’s third quarter earnings announcement, which was announced the same day, TiVo president and CEO, Tom Carson, said that the Samsung deal “demonstrates that the merger of Rovi and TiVo offers tremendous synergies and will result in a stronger combined company”.

“This agreement with Samsung not only validates the relevance and longevity of the acquired TiVo intellectual property, but also highlights our preference for commercially reasonable deals over on-going litigation,” said Carson.

“This deal demonstrates the value that can be created with our IP portfolios and is a good proof point of revenue synergies resulting from the combination of Rovi and TiVo.”

TiVo reported Q3 revenue of US$153.1 million, an increase of 33% year-on-year, following the TiVo-Rovi merger and the renewal of the DISH Network license agreement. Net income was US$49.9 million, compared to a net loss of US$18.5 million for the third quarter of 2015.