TiVo Slaps AT&T, Verizon With Patent Suit

ALVISO, Calif. (TheStreet) -- TiVo(TIVO Quote) has taken aim at phone giants AT&T (T Quote) and Verizon (VZ Quote) with a patent infringement lawsuit.

The TV recording specialty shop filed complaints in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas saying AT&T and Verizon violated its DVR patents and is seeking damages and a permanent injunction.

AT&T and Verizon have been expanding a TV service as part of a triple play service bundle, which has been chipping away at subscriber numbers at Comcast (CMCSA Quote), Time Warner Cable (TWC Quote) and Cablevision (CVC Quote).

The move is similar to the ongoing lawsuit in the same court against EchoStar (SATS Quote) over the DVR recording technology used by Dish Network (DISH Quote).

EchoStar has lost and appealed several decisions in the TiVo case. In June, the court awarded TiVo $103 million. Last year, EchoStar made a $105 million payment to TiVo.

Written by Scott Moritz in New York.