NEW YORK – Dish satellite TV customers can continue using their digital video recorders while a court battle continues with TiVo Inc. over a patent, the companies said Thursday.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted Dish Network Corp. and EchoStar Corp. a stay on a contempt order that would have forced them to disable Dish DVRs.

A judge in the U.S . District Court of the Eastern District of Texas last month found Dish and EchoStar to be in contempt of a permanent injunction on TiVo's DVR Time Warp technology, which lets viewers pause, rewind and fast-forward live shows.

Dish had lost a 2004 patent infringement case brought by TiVo, and while the case was on appeal, it sent modified software to customers' DVRs. But TiVo said the workaround software still infringed on its patent and asked the court for the injunction.

Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo said Thursday it was confident that the district court's ruling would be upheld on appeal.

TiVo shares fell $1.67, or 16 percent, to $9.10 in pre-market trading Thursday. Dish shares were unchanged at $16.48, while EchoStar shares were unchanged at $16.14.

Dish, the satellite broadcaster based in Englewood, Colo., spun off EchoStar Corp., which sells set-top boxes, in 2008.