By DAVID KOENIG AP Business Writer
DALLAS (AP) -- In a case beginning this week, a Texas jury will be asked to decide whether satellite-TV giant EchoStar Communications Corp. stole TiVo Inc.'s technology that lets viewers skip the commercials.
TiVo claims that EchoStar, which operates the Dish satellite network, violated TiVo patent on technology used to record one program while playing back another. TiVo is seeking unspecified damages.
The trial is scheduled to start Wednesday in U.S. district court in Marshall, 150 miles east of Dallas, and last about two weeks.
If TiVo wins, it could sue cable companies that offer other set-top boxes or at least force them to pay licensing fees. Defeat would probably relegate TiVo to a niche place in the market it created, analysts say.
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