EchoStar Satellite LLC and DirecTV have settled pending litigation regarding the use of trademarks as keywords to trigger sponsored links on Internet searches such as Google Adwords and similar search engines, the companies jointly announced Feb. 26.

The two companies agreed that neither will use the trademarks of the other company as keywords unless and until the U.S. Supreme Court or U.S. Congress establish that the practice is not a violation of the law. Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Separately, DirecTV’s board has approved the repurchase of up to $1 billion of its common stock, the company announced Feb. 27. DirecTV already has completed a $3 billion stock buyback program started in February 2006.