ALVISO, CALIF.: TiVo is tossing in with Best Buy to sell its digital video recorders. The announcement comes after a recent court ruling allowing Dish Network to continue using digital video recording technology similar to TiVo’s. The satellite provider and TiVo have been locked in a years-long legal dispute over the technology. TiVo claims Dish is violating its DVR patents. The federal appeals court examining the issue gave Dish the OK to keep using the technology.

TiVo said Best Buy would “substantially increase the levels of marketing and merchandising of retail TiVo DVR devices, as well as other devices that may feature the TiVo user interface and platform in the future.” The two also plan to develop what TiVo called a “unique user interface for TiVo DVRs purchased at Best Buy,” one that essentially provides an interactive promotional platform for Best Buy.

The Best Buy blast included what could be interpreted as a swipe at Dish, albeit a wordy one: “Best Buy believes that TiVo’s ability to deliver millions of pieces of content not available through cable or satellite, while enabling consumers to find content spanning broadcast to broadband creates a user experience based on one box, one remote, one user interface, and one-stop shop content availability that renders the TV experience in a way that is both easy and intuitive for consumers.”

Other TVB TiVo coverage:
July 2, 2009: “Dish Gets a Break in TiVo Ruling”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit initially granted a temporary stay of the ruling on June 3, and extended it pending the outcome of Dish’s appeal. Opening briefs are due July 17; TiVo’s is due Aug. 25; Dish’s reply is due Sept. 4, with oral arguments anticipated in November.

June 4, 2009: “Court Puts TiVo’s Dish Defeat on Hold”
A federal appeals court issued a temporary stay yesterday on a lower-court decision issued Tuesday in favor of TiVo.

January 14, 2009: “DBS Operator Continues Patent Spat with TiVo”
The folks at the Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) have managed to get the patent police to take another look at TiVo’s time-shifting patent. TiVo and Dish have fought for years over the technology, which TiVo pioneered in its eponymous boxes in the 1990s. Dish eventually incorporated the function into its own set-top boxes, setting off a patent dispute between the two companies.
-- Deborah D. McAdams