The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's decision to weigh the proprietary contempt proceedings as a forum for an infringement ruling in patent litigation is welcome news to lawyers, who say courts need clearer guidelines on addressing continued infringement of redesigned products. The court agreed to an en banc rehearing of a ruling in a pitched battle between EchoStar Corp. and TiVo Inc. over a digital video recorder patent that attorneys say illuminates the deficiencies of the so-called colorable difference standard currently used to determine whether contempt proceedings are the proper place for determining whether a redesigned product infringes. Attorneys say this case will be on "everyone's list of the top five Federal Circuit decisions of the year," and note that "it's a tricky issue the Federal Circuit is dealing with here." EchoStar and Dish are represented by Finnegan.
