EchoStar Communications posted strong revenue and profit gains for its second quarter, and said that the federal patent office recently rejected some of the digital video recording claims asserted by Tivo.

But others related to a Texas court verdict against EchoStar last year were not rejected by the patent office.

The Douglas County-based satellite TV operator said revenues were up 11.9 percent to $2.76 billion in its second quarter, compared with $2.47 billion for the same period in 2006. Profits increased from $169 million, or 38 cents a share, to $224 million, or 50 cents a share, for those periods.

EchoStar said in its quarterly filing with federal regulators that the U.S. Patent and

Trademark office had issued a "final" action on July 30 rejecting all hardware claims by Tivo. But the patent office did not reject two software claims Tivo had asserted and won at a trial last year against EchoStar.

In April 2006, a Texas jury found that certain EchoStar digital video recording technology infringed on a patent held by Tivo, and the court issued an injunction prohibiting EchoStar from offering the technology. An appellate court has stayed that injunction pending EchoStar's appeal.

EchoStar reiterated that it does not believe it has infringed on any of the patents, and that it will prevail on appeal. But it also said that if the Texas verdict is upheld, it could be required to pay substantial damages, eliminate certain DVR features and try to implement alternative technology. The company has recorded a reserve of $94 million for the litigation, and said that amount would increase by $35 million this year if the verdict is upheld on appeal.

EchoStar, which operates Dish network, said that it had approximately 13.585 million subscribers as of June 30, an increase of 9 percent year over year.

The company added 170,000 net new subscribers during the three-month period, down from 195,000 net new subscribers during the same period in 2006. The decrease primarily resulted from a similar subscriber churn rate on a larger subscriber base and seasonality. The company said problems in the housing and mortgage markets also may be having an effect.

On Thursday, rival DirecTV, which has 16.3 million subscribers, reported that its profits had fallen in part because of a rise in operating costs.

smithje@rockymountainnews.com, or 303-954-5155