Streaming provider Netflix has been found guilty of infringing a patent held by Broadcom by the District Court of Munich.
Broadcom and Netflix have been engaged in a patent dispute since 2018, with Broadcom accusing Netflix of infringing numerous US, German and Dutch patents through its streaming service.
Namely, Broadcom had issues with Netflix infringing the EP 2 575 366 Patent, commonly known as the ‘366 Patent’, through its transmission of HEVC video. The Patent covers key features of digital video processing often used in HEVC/H.265 video coding, which Netflix uses to provide Ultra HD content to its users.
In its ruling, the court ordered an injunction, which would prohibit Netflix from providing certain video streaming services using Broadcom’s patented technology.
“Netflix has built a robust video streaming business that relies on Broadcom’s patented technology to deliver content to its users, and Broadcom is pleased to see this recognised by the German court,” said Mark Terrano, vice president and general manager of Broadcom’s Intellectual Property and Licensing Division.
Netflix has not yet responded to the ruling, which comes as the company faces a subscriber drop-off in Australia, largely due to its password-sharing crackdown.
The US-headquartered company started cracking down on password sharing in May, forcing each user to pay a monthly subscription fee. The tech giant initially reported a large uptake in new subscribers following the changes, revealing a record-high number of subscriptions over a four-day period in June. But new figures released by Telsyte show subscriber numbers fell in June, and almost 200,000 Australian users have abandoned the service over the last 12 months. It is the first time the streaming service has seen a decline in Australian subscribers.
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