"We are extremely pleased that the United States Supreme Court has denied EchoStar's petition," digital video recording pioneer TiVo said in a statement.

A federal jury in Marshall, Texas, found US satellite broadcaster EchoStar guilty in April 2006 of infringing on patents held by TiVo on digital video recorders and ordered it to pay 73.9 million dollars in damages and interest.

EchoStar appealed the verdict which was upheld by two appeals courts before reaching the US Supreme Court.

The Alviso, California-based TiVo developed the first commercially available digital video recorder in a market that was quickly deluged with competitors.

Founded in 1997, TiVo has had skyrocketing success with its service which allows viewers to skip over commercial breaks.

EchoStar owns Dish Network, one of the largest US satellite broadcast networks.