Shares of TiVo Inc. advanced nearly 25% after the U.S. patent office upheld a key piece of intellectual property for the maker of digital video recorders, seen as a minor victory in its legal battle with EchoStar Communications Corp.

TiVo shares ended the day up $1.48, or 24.7%, at $7.46. EchoStar shares were off 14 cents at $42.70.

EchoStar, meanwhile, said in a statement that the decision by the patent office doesn't affect a pending patent-infringement case TiVo filed against it. One analyst cautioned that a legal victory isn't guaranteed, and that the company still faces challenges.

"We think the news is likely to shift further momentum in TiVo's favor, as appeals phase winds down," said Standard & Poor's analyst Tuna Amobi. "Still, final outcome of the suit does not seem certain to us."

TiVo, in a statement, said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office found all of its claims on the "time-warp" patent to be valid after a reexamination requested by EchoStar. The Alviso, Calif., TiVo said it hopes the U.S. Court of Appeals will uphold the district-court judgment that went against EchoStar.

The suit, filed by TiVo in 2004, revolves around TiVo's claim that EchoStar is stealing its "time-warp" technology, which allow viewers to pause, fast-forward and rewind live television programs.

Pioneered by TiVo, the DVR has since been used on TV set-top boxes provided by cable providers, satellite companies and telecom service providers as an additional service. Other set-top box makers such as Cisco System Inc.'s Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola Inc. employ the same technology.

Shares shot up on the perception that the U.S. Patent and Trademark decision would sway the federal circuit appeals case. EchoStar doesn't believe it will.

"We are disappointed in the Patent and Trademark Office's decision ...We are hopeful that the Federal Circuit will reverse the district court and find that we do not infringe TiVo's patent," the Englewood, Colo., company said in a statement.

Ahead of the announcement, J.P. Morgan analyst Barton Crockett upgraded TiVo's stock, saying it was "worth a high-risk shot."

In a note, the analyst said there is a 70% chance that TiVo will ultimately prevail against EchoStar. He added that the rollout by Comcast Corp. of DVRs with TiVo technology will also drive near-term interest in the stock.

Fulwider Patton LLP, one of the oldest and most respected independent intellectual property law firms in Southern California, made the most dramatic gains in U.S. trademark filings during the Second Quarter of 2007 according to The Trademark Insider®. In its recently published Second Quarter 2007 edition, The Trademark Insider® reports that between April-June 2007, Fulwider Patton filed 118 federal trademark and service mark applications, and was ranked as being in the top 50 law firms nationwide in U.S. trademark filings for that period.

Reflecting on The Trademark Insider report, Fulwider Patton partner Jim Paul commented: "We are very pleased to receive this recognition. It underscores our firm's goal of offering quality representation at reasonable prices. Our excellent team of trademark attorneys works very closely with our clients to uncover and enhance the value of their intellectual property assets."

Fulwider Patton LLP is a full service intellectual property law firm serving clients in all areas of intellectual property including patents, trademarks, copyrights, Internet domain name disputes, trade secrets and unfair competition. With offices in Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, Fulwider Patton LLP represents clients throughout California and the United States, Europe and the Pacific Rim.

Mattel Inc. (MAT) is once again pursuing a lawsuit to prevent a pornographic Web site from using the name of its trademarked Barbie doll as part of its name. The El Segundo, Calif., toy maker sued Global China Networks LLC in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday over its Web site, www.chinabarbie.com. Global is a limited liability company organized in Florida and maintains a post-office box in New York, according to the complaint.

In its lawsuit, Mattel claims the Web site is pornographic and Global sold memberships to persons around the world.

The company, which has principal address in Hollywood, Fla., is listed as inactive on the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations Web site.

No phone number could be located late Tuesday for Global or its registered agent in Hollywood, Fla.

Mattel has aggressively pursued actions against a variety of Web sites that use the Barbie name in the past.

In 1999, Mattel pursued a lawsuit in New York against a Las Vegas company that operated an adult Web site registered as barbiesplaypen.com. A federal judge ultimately ordered the domain

A federal court on Friday dismissed a request by Qualcomm Inc. to delay an import ban on new cell phones containing the company's chips, which were were found to infringe patents held by Broadcom Corp. The decision comes a day after Verizon Wireless cut a deal with Broadcom that analysts said makes it less likely the Bush administration will overturn the ban, as Qualcomm has urged. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said it did not have jurisdiction to consider Qualcomm's request, because the import limits are still under review by the Bush administration. The administration has until August 6 to decide whether to veto the import limits.

The U.S. International Trade Commission imposed the ban June 7 after ruling that San Diego-based Qualcomm's chips infringed a Broadcom patent on battery power-saving technology.

The court "made no determination of the substantive merits" of Qualcomm's appeal, said Emily Kilpatrick, a spokeswoman for the company. Qualcomm will renew its appeal and seek a delay in the ban after Aug. 6 if the administration does not reverse the import limits, she said.

The ITC's ruling allows the importation of cell phone models available as of June 7, but bans new models with infringing chips. The ruling will limit the availability of cell phones compatible with high-speed wireless data networks built by Verizon Wireless, an affiliate of Verizon Communications Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and AT&T Inc.'s wireless division.

Mobile phone makers LG Electronics Inc., Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. will also be hit. The wireless carriers and phone manufacturers joined Qualcomm's appeal and the carriers have also supported its lobbying efforts in Washington.

But in an additional blow to Qualcomm, Verizon Wireless yesterday withdrew its support after striking a deal with Broadcom to license its technology. Verizon Wireless agreed to pay Broadcom $6 for each phone with an infringing Qualcomm chip, up to $40 million a quarter or $200 million over the life of the agreement.

Rebecca Arbogast, a telecommunications analyst at investment bank Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc., said Verizon Wireless's move "substantially reduces the chance there will be a presidential veto."

Verizon Wireless was a driving force behind the wireless carriers' efforts in support of a reversal of the ban, Arbogast said.

The company is a member of CTIA, the wireless industry's top lobbying group, which has urged the administration to overturn the ITC's ruling. John Walls, vice president for public affairs, said CTIA still supports a presidential veto.

The deal between Broadcom and Verizon Wireless also demonstrates that a commercial solution to the dispute exists, Arbogast said.

Presidential vetoes of ITC decisions are rare, with the most recent in 1987, an ITC official said last month. The White House will defer to the recommendation of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, as it has on ITC rulings since 2005.

Meanwhile, five Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab July 12 in support of a veto.

The ITC's order "will stifle the efforts of wireless carriers to deliver cutting-edge technologies to American consumers," said the letter, which was signed by Reps. Joe Barton of Texas and Cliff Stearns of Florida, among others.

New York Democrats Rep. Charles Rangel and Sen. Charles Schumer also wrote administration officials last week against the ban.

Broadcom's chief executive Scott McGregor said Thursday that Qualcomm "appears...to have bet their future...on their political lobbying skills."

LG Electronics has filed suit against Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta Computers alleging infringement of its DVD patents.

LG is seeking an injunction to prohibit Quanta's use of this technology as well as monetary compensation. The suit was filed in the US District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin on 3 July.

The claims include infringement of four DVD patents which LG says Quanta has been using without permission to produce notebook computers supplied to US computer companies.

"LG's proprietorship of DVD technologies is widely recognised throughout the industry, and the unlicensed use of our intellectual property is not acceptable under any circumstances," said Jeong Hwan Lee, executive vice president and head of LG Electronics' Intellectual Property Centre.

Quanta said in an official statement: "The company has assigned its legal representatives to work on this matter. R&D is crucial to Quanta's success, and the company values and respects intellectual property rights.

"Quanta is committed to defending its reputation and acting in the best interest of its shareholders."

LG filed a lawsuit against Quanta for alleged patent infringement of its personal computer technology in a Californian District Court in 2000.

In July 2006, the US Court of Appeals overturned and handed back the decision of the trial court, which had originally decided that the Taiwanese company did not infringe on LG's patents.

The companies are currently awaiting the court's final decision, which is expected to be handed down during the first half of 2008. LG said that it expects the final ruling to be in its favour.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and law enforcement from 10 other countries conducted over 90 searches worldwide as part of "Operation Site Down," designed to disrupt and dismantle many of the leading criminal organizations that illegally distribute and trade in copyrighted software, movies, music, and games on the Internet.

Operation Site Down is the culmination of three separate undercover investigations conducted by the FBI. In the past 24 hours, more than 70 searches were executed in the United States, and more than 20 overseas. Four individuals were arrested in the United States, and searches and/or arrests occurred in the following 10 countries: Canada, Israel, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Australia. At least eight major online distribution sites were dismantled, preventing tens of millions of further losses to the content industry. More than 120 leading members of the organized online piracy underground were identified by the investigation to date, and as the investigations continue, additional targets will be identified and pursued.

"The theft of this property strikes at the heart of America's economy," said FBI Assistant Director Louis M. Reigel. "It deprives many Americans and others around the globe of their right to be paid for their labor and enjoy the value of their hard work."

In addition to attacking piracy globally, Operation Site Down struck at all facets of the illegal software, game, movie, and music trade online, which is commonly referred to as the "warez scene."

The investigations focused on individuals and organizations that were the "first-providers" of copyrighted works to the warez underground - the so-called "release" groups that operated as the original sources for a majority of the pirated works distributed and downloaded via the Internet. Once a warez release group prepares a stolen work for distribution, the material is distributed in minutes to secure, top-level warez servers throughout the world. From there, within a matter of hours, the pirated works are distributed globally, filtering down to peer-to-peer and other public file sharing networks accessible to anyone with Internet access.

The release groups targeted by Site Down specialize in the distribution of all types of pirated works including utility and application software, movies, music, and games. Among the warez groups hit yesterday are: RiSCISO, Myth, TDA, LND, Goodfellaz, Hoodlum, Vengeance, Centropy, Wasted Time, Paranoid, Corrupt, Gamerz, AdmitONE, Hellbound, KGS, BBX, KHG, NOX, NFR, CDZ, TUN, and BHP. These groups alone are allegedly responsible for stealing, cracking and distributing hundreds of well-known titles, such as Autodesk's Autocad 2006, Adobe's Photoshop, and the movies "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Operation Site Down is expected to dismantle many of these international warez syndicates and significantly disrupt the illicit operations of others.

Conservative estimates of the value of pirated works seized in yesterday's action exceed $50 million, which is only a fraction of the losses attributable to the online distribution hubs also seized in this operation. Top-level release groups like those targeted in the operation are primary suppliers to the for-profit criminal distribution networks that cost the copyright industry billions of dollars each year. Illegal warez copies of titles such as Autocad 2006 and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" are easily and cheaply converted to optical discs and distributed throughout the world from factories in Asia and elsewhere. Spammers regularly advertise cheap software that can be downloaded from websites or shipped from overseas, usually bearing the signature mark of the warez group that released it.

Operation Site Down comprises three separate FBI undercover investigations run by the FBI field divisions in Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; and San Francisco, California. The U.S. Attorney's Offices in San Francisco, Charlotte and Chicago assisted in the investigations and a majority of the domestic targets will be prosecuted in those districts. The Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section also assisted in the investigations and led the coordination of foreign enforcement actions in 10 countries.

Operation Site Down is the latest in a series of actions taken by the Department of Justice to crackdown on illegal online piracy. In the past four years, beginning with Operation Buccaneer in 2001 through Operation Fastlink in 2004, the Department has prosecuted a number of international investigations into these top piracy organizations.

In March 2004, as part of the Administration's Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP!) Initiative, the Department established the Task Force on Intellectual Property to address the increasing problem of intellectual property theft.

The Task Force examined how the Department protects intellectual property through criminal, civil and antitrust enforcement, legislative proposals, international coordination, and prevention. A report issued by the Task Force in October 2004 recommended comprehensive improvements in the Department's overall efforts, many of which have already been implemented. One of those recommendations was to continue the Department's strategy of dismantling and prosecuting multi-district and international criminal organizations that commit intellectual property crimes. Operation Site Down represents the Department's continued effort to pursue this strategy.

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales submitted the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 to Congress on Monday, legislation meant to strengthen current copyright laws and provide harsher penalties for counterfeiters. The new measure would increase the maximum penalty for willful counterfeiting infringement to up to 20 years. At a speech to the US Chamber of Commerce Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, Gonzales said that the new initiative "is a comprehensive and coordinated plan for federal agencies to work together to crack down on the growing trade in counterfeit and pirated goods."

In a conference call concerning the new legislation on Monday, senior DOJ officials also said that obtaining international cooperation on the area of copyright law is of great importance to the department. The US has listed 12 countries as failing to provide adequate protection, including Russia, China, and Israel.