TiVo 2009 Annual Report Download - page 16

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 16 of the 2009 TiVo annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 159

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • 149
  • 150
  • 151
  • 152
  • 153
  • 154
  • 155
  • 156
  • 157
  • 158
  • 159

Table of Contents
We compete with audience research companies such as Nielsen, Kantar Media Research, and RenTrak for research spend from advertisers, advertising
agencies, and television networks. These companies have all announced intentions to provide second-by-second viewership information based on data from
digital cable set-top boxes and satellite set-top boxes. The type of research we provide is a discretionary purchase. If advertisers, advertising agencies, and
television networks perceive the information provided by these companies to be more valuable, they may invest in those services rather than ours, or they may
choose not to purchase this type of information at all.
Patents and Intellectual Property
We have filed patent applications relating to numerous inventions resulting from TiVo research and development, including many critical aspects of the
design, functionality, and operation of TiVo products and services as well as technology that we may incorporate in future products and services. We have
been awarded approximately 157 foreign and domestic patents and have approximately 227 foreign and domestic patent applications pending.
TiVo has also acquired the exclusive right to license and enforce U.S. patent number 5,241,428 entitled Variable-Delay Video Recorder known in the
industry as the Goldwasser Patent. Filed in March 1991, the Goldwasser Patent is one of the earliest patents regarding digital video recorders of which we are
aware. This patent generally relates to the simultaneous recording and playback of video material with a variable time delay between recording and playback
of a given video program segment. The expiration date of the Goldwasser Patent is March 12, 2011.
We have also purchased 12 foreign and domestic patents and 6 foreign patent applications from International Business Machines Corporation, or IBM.
These patents and patent applications generally relate to audience research measurement, integration of television signals with internet access, automatic
rescheduling of recordings, content screening, enhanced program information search, and electronic program guide interface enhancements.
Additionally, on September 28, 2006, we entered into a patent cross license agreement with IBM, under which we paid certain cash consideration to
IBM, and each party granted to the other a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to such party's patents that are entitled to a priority date on or before
September 28, 2006, including all patents and patent applications in existence as of that date with limited exceptions. The license granted by IBM to us
extends to all products other than general purpose data processing products and data storage devices that are primarily sold separately from other hardware.
The license that we granted to IBM extends to all products, other than digital media recorders and digital media recorder software. No license was granted,
directly or by implication, to permit the combination of any product with any other item.
TiVo has secured numerous foreign and domestic trademark registrations for its distinctive marks, including but not limited to registrations, for the
marks "TiVo," the TiVo logo, "Season Pass," Thumbs logos, and certain sound marks. We anticipate ongoing progress in our establishment of a defensible
and useful intellectual property portfolio; however, we cannot assure you that current patents will be enforceable or our current patent applications will ever
be allowed or granted. See Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors – Our success depends on our ability to secure and protect our patents, trademarks, and other
proprietary rights" and "Pending Intellectual Property Litigation" for additional information concerning our intellectual property.
Privacy Policy
We have adopted a privacy policy, which we make available on our website at www.tivo.com/privacy and deliver to each new subscriber to the TiVo
service. This policy was last updated in January 2010 to cover new features that we have introduced and plan to introduce in the future. This policy explains
that we collect certain types of information such as anonymous viewing and diagnostic information, but unless the subscriber gives prior consent, we do not
collect or access personally identifiable viewing information from a subscriber's DVRs except as necessary to provide service to the DVR. We further give
subscribers the ability to "opt-out" from the collection of anonymous viewing information and diagnostic information log files.
12