Microsoft has filed suit against TiVo, specifically accusing the company of infringing on its video purchasing and delivery patents. This comes just days after a lawsuit was filed by TiVo against AT&T, one of Microsoft’s biggest customers.

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The best way to explain this complicated series of affairs is through a short timeline. Here’s the summary of what’s happened thus far:

– Last August, TiVo sued AT&T and Verizon over several patents involving its DVR technology. TiVo has succeeded in the past with these lawsuits, most notably winning $103 million in damages from EchoStar last year.

– If the lawsuit were to succeed, it could take down AT&T’s U-Verse TV service, which is powered by Microsoft technology. Specifically, Microsoft powers the video delivery platform and digital recording tech utilizing its Mediaroom technology.

– Thus, in defense of its partner and lucrative customer, Microsoft intervened in the lawsuit on January 15, asking to join the case on the side of AT&T.

– Now Microsoft’s decided to turn up the heat on TiVo by launching its own lawsuit. In a statement to Bloomberg, Microsoft said the following: “We remain open to resolving this situation through an intellectual-property licensing agreement, and we have initiated discussions to engage TiVo in negotiations.”

– Essentially, Microsoft’s offering TiVo the chance to settle this affair before it goes to court, but it doesn’t look like TiVo is backing down.

TiVo may be emboldened by the fact that it’s set a precedent of winning these types of lawsuits, but facing Microsoft’s legal muscle is probably the company’s biggest challenge yet. The future of DVR technology could be at stake if a court does eventually decide this case.