Netflix has launched a counteroffensive in its long-running patent battle with Broadcom, submitting a lawsuit over virtualisation applied sciences in opposition to the corporate’s VMware subsidiary. Filed [PDF] on December 23, 2024, within the Northern District of California, the streaming firm’s grievance asserts 5 patents (initially developed by HP), marking an aggressive shift in Netflix’s usually defensive IP technique.
Netflix has endured almost 5 years of patent litigation by Broadcom, starting in March 2020 in the course of the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Broadcom’s preliminary lawsuit claimed that Netflix’s streaming companies had irreparably broken its semiconductor enterprise for set-top containers, a market phase that continues to say no as streaming companies achieve prominence.
Strategic patent arsenal
The Netflix lawsuit centres on 5 virtualisation patents that made their method via the secondary market earlier than touchdown in Netflix’s portfolio. The patents, which beforehand handed via Regional Assets Ltd., concern core virtualisation applied sciences allegedly utilized by VMware:
- US Patent No. 7,779,424 and its household patent 7,797,707, each addressing methods for attributing CPU utilization in digital machine environments,
- US Patent No. 8,799,891, overlaying CPU utilization attribution for digital machine displays,
- US Patent No. 8,185,893, detailing digital machine startup and cargo balancing,
- US Patent No. 8,863,122 describing distant management of a number of digital machines via a graphical interface.
The grievance alleges willful infringement, suggesting that Broadcom and VMware demonstrated not less than deliberate blindness of their use of the patented applied sciences. If confirmed, the allegation may result in enhanced damages.
A 12 months of authorized setbacks for Broadcom
The countersuit caps off a difficult 12 months for Broadcom’s patent enforcement efforts. A pivotal second got here in July 2024 when the German Federal Patent Court docket (Bundespatentgericht) invalidated Broadcom’s streaming patent EP2575366. The ruling successfully nullified a €7.05 million contempt superb beforehand imposed on Netflix by the Munich I Regional Court docket.
One other setback rapidly adopted within the US. The Court docket of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revived two Netflix challenges to a Broadcom patent that the Patent Trial & Attraction Board had beforehand upheld, additional weakening Broadcom’s place.
Broadcom’s authorized difficulties weren’t restricted to its dispute with Netflix. In August 2024, the corporate suffered two consecutive defeats in opposition to Tesla within the Unified Patent Court docket (UPC) inside 4 days. The Hamburg and Munich Native Divisions dominated in opposition to Broadcom, including to its enforcement failures.
Jurisdiction and authorized technique
Whereas the Northern District of California isn’t identified for speedy proceedings or displaying explicit favouritism towards patent holders, Netflix’s alternative of venue was primarily predetermined by the events’ substantial enterprise presence within the district. Broadcom maintains places of work in Palo Alto, Petaluma, and San Jose, whereas Netflix is headquartered in Los Gatos.
Led by Baker Botts’s famend patent litigator Rachael Lamkin, the lawsuit represents an uncommon transfer for Netflix, which has traditionally prevented asserting patents. Authorized analysts recommend the method could speed up settlement negotiations quite than point out a elementary shift in Netflix’s mental property technique.
Worldwide implications and prospects
Regardless of potential curiosity in increasing its authorized strain via the Unified Patent Court docket (UPC) or German nationwide courts, Netflix’s present patent portfolio within the dispute consists solely of US property. This limitation may limit worldwide litigation choices.
This newest growth follows Broadcom’s earlier success in opposition to Volkswagen/Audi. Trade sources recommend a settlement of roughly one billion Euros was reached over a patent that was later invalidated following a problem by Nvidia, performing in help of its buyer Nintendo. This historical past of high-stakes patent litigation has made Broadcom’s enforcement campaigns a closely-watched phenomenon within the tech business.
The countersuit represents extra than simply one other chapter within the ongoing Netflix-Broadcom dispute; it highlights the evolving dynamics of patent litigation within the tech sector. As conventional {hardware} firms like Broadcom face market pressures from streaming companies and software program firms like Netflix construct defensive patent portfolios, the business might even see extra instances the place patents initially developed for one know-how sector are deployed in fields unenvisaged on the time of submitting.
The success of Netflix’s technique will seemingly rely on the technical deserves of the virtualisation patents and the way its offensive transfer impacts the broader dynamics of the continuing multi-jurisdictional dispute between the tech giants. Because the case progresses, it could set necessary precedents for the way streaming firms and rising sector gamers defend in opposition to and counter patent assertions from conventional know-how suppliers.
(Picture by Venti Views )
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