InterDigital sues Disney in U.S., UPC, Germany, Brazil over multimedia patents

Context: Standard-essential patent (SEP) holders increasingly expect to get paid not not only by device makers but also by streaming services. Two top-notch pool administrators have recently launched licensing programs for streaming: Avanci Video was announced in late 2023, and Access Advance launched its Video Distribution Patent (VDP) pool last month (January 16, 2025 ip fray article). Nokia announced its first license deal with an unnamed major streaming service last summer (LinkedIn post by Nokia’s Arvin Patel) and may win a German SEP injunction against Amazon Prime Video this month. Netflix became the first streaming service to be hit by patent holder with a permanent injunction in Brazil (December 23, 2023 ip fray article). Adeia is suing Disney and its Hulu and ESPN subsidiaries in the Unified Patent Court (UPC) (November 22, 2024 ip fray article).

What’s new: Today, InterDigital announced the filing of SEP infringement lawsuits against Disney (as well as its Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ subsidiaries) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California (Disney’s home district), the Mannheim and Dusseldorf Local Divisions (LDs) of the UPC, the Munich I Regional Court and the Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) State Court (InterDigital press release). InterDigital felt forced to take this step after more than 2.5 years of fruitless attempts to work out a license agreement with the Walt Disney Company. InterDigital is seeking a permanent injunction everywhere: the U.S. complaint is publicly accessible, and all the other venues are patent injunction hotspots.

Direct impact: The forceful action taken by InterDigital may bring Disney to the negotiating table. The only factor that complicates SEP enforcement now is the lack of judicial restraint by the England & Wales Court of Appeal (EWCA), which shows a tendency to turn the normally very well-respected UK into a rogue jurisdiction that attempts to derail patent enforcement (even over non-SEPs) in the rest of the world (February 2, 2025 ip fray article).

Wider ramifications: InterDigital generally prefers to license its patents directly, a rare exception being its participation in the Avanci Automotive pool. But the more patent holders enforce their IP against streamers, the more pressure there will be on them to take licenses, bilaterally as well as from pools.