DirecTV Wins Patent Case with Finisar, Saves more than $117.3 million

DirecTV Group Inc. won a trial following a $78.9 million patent verdict in favor of Finisar Corp. over the information transmission technology.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said there is a need to re-evaluate both infringement and validity, stressing that the trial judge erred in his interpretation of a vital term of the Finisar patent.

Finisar a maker of fiber-optic network equipment had won a June 2006 trial in a federal court in Beaumont, Texas where the jury awarded the California based firm $78.9 million and was later increased to $25 million after jurors found that the infringement was willful.

Today's court ruling pushed Finisar's stock down by 7.6 percent or 10 cents to $1.21 in Nasdaq Stock market trading while DirecTV gained 47 cents to $25.92.

DirecTV is the largest U.S. satellite television company.

The patent covers a broadcasting system that gives subscribers access to TV video programs via satellite and cable.

The first court ruling in July 2006 had ordered DirecTV to pay $117.3 million including $13.4 million in interest and royalties of $1.60 for every TV set-top box activated on its behalf until the patent expires.