On November 20th the U.S. District Court of Texas set a date of February 17, 2009 for a bench trial to determine if EchoStar’s software is still infringing on TiVo’s patents. But now, according to the San Jose Mercury News, Dish Network is angling for a jury trial on the issue.

If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington decides that a jury trial is warranted, it would bring everything around to where it was a few years ago – a trial to determine if TiVo’s patents are being infringed. While the jury in the first trial sided with TiVo, and the verdict was upheld on appeal, Dish claims that their new software is no longer infringing. So if a new trial is granted it’d be the same case, redux.

I Am Not A Lawyer, but it seems odd to me. Can this be stretched out indefinitely just by issuing software updates and saying each one needs a new jury trial to determine if it is infringing? I think this show jumped the shark.

Disclaimer: I work for Sling Media, which is owned by EchoStar.

The Sling Media SlingCatcher (and the Slingbox PRO-HD) went up for pre-order recently, so we know it is coming soon. Now it is starting to show up in the press, the San Jose Mercury News and CNET’s Crave blog have both posted stores on the new box. These aren’t full reviews, just first impressions of the unit from a recent press tour ahead of the launch. But if you’re interested in what they thought of the unit in their preview, check them out.

Disclaimer: I’m a beta manager for Sling Media.

No, not the Dish Network/EchoStar lawsuit, but rather a suit from Lycos. Back in January 2007 Lycos sued TiVo, Blockbuster, and Netflix for patent infringement over their recommendation engines. The San Jose Mercury News reports that TiVo has settled the suit with Lycos.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed in a May 30 court filing that said the two sides settled their dispute. TiVo General Counsel Matt Zinn said the Alviso-based company paid Lycos an “immaterial amount of money” to end the suit “before the case went very far.”

So that’s off TiVo’s plate, Blockbuster and Netflix remain in the case which is pending in federal court in Boston.