March 22, 2012 – Bloomberg reports that Microsoft will drop patent-infringement litigation against TiVo that could have led to a US import ban on TiVo’s set-top boxes.  In exchange, TiVo did not grant patent rights to Microsoft and agreed to drop counterclaims.  According to the article, Microsoft filed complaints against TiVo at the ITC as well as in federal court, alleging that TiVo’s set-top boxes, subscription services, and software infringe four patents related to an interactive viewing system, selecting TV programs to view/record, delivering programming on an interactive TV, and a remote control device.  Microsoft’s suits were reportedly prompted by a suit filed by TiVo against AT&T (Microsoft’s client), and AT&T agreed to pay TiVo at least $215 million to end the dispute.