A court order has been issued to Netflix, directing the streaming service to stop violating Broadcom’s HEVC/H.265 patent in Germany.
The District Court of Munich has made a ruling in the ongoing patent dispute between technology company Broadcom and Netflix.
The court determined that Netflix infringed upon Broadcom’s Patent related to high-efficiency video coding (HEVC/H.265) and ordered to stop the infringement, a pivotal technology for transmitting high-quality video.
This legal tussle began in 2018 when Broadcom alleged that Netflix had violated multiple patents associated with video streaming services across the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The recent decision by the German court primarily focused on the European patent EP 2 575 366, commonly known as the ‘366 Patent.’ This Patent covers key elements of digital video processing that are typically used in HEVC/H.265 video coding
On September 19, 2023, the court concluded that Netflix’s transmission of HEVC video, which the platform uses to offer its subscribers Ultra HD content, violated the ‘366 Patent.
Consequently, an injunction was issued, barring Netflix from using Broadcom’s patented technology in specific video streaming services within Germany.
Mark Terrano, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom’s Intellectual Property and Licensing Division commented on the verdict, stating, “Netflix’s thriving video streaming platform heavily depends on Broadcom’s patented technology to serve its audience. We are gratified to see the German court acknowledge this.”
This ruling is anticipated to have considerable repercussions for Broadcom and Netflix and might influence the broader landscape of the tech and entertainment sectors.
Netflix’s official response to the court’s decision remains awaited. H.265, or HEVC, is a video codec that supports ultra-high resolutions, including 8K UHD, up to 8192×4320. To know more about HEVC encoding, check out our article here.
Ragul Thangavel
With over nine years of diverse professional experience, Ragul has made significant contributions across various domains, including Media Operations, OTT Technologies, Video Production, Ecommerce, and Social Media.
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