Three licensors from the HEVC patent pool are suing Amazon at the Düsseldorf Regional Court. M&K Holdings, Gensquare, and Tagivan II filed these lawsuits to address patent infringements related to Amazon devices that support 4K content. This follows past legal actions against Microsoft by the same group, which were settled in early October.
Details of the Lawsuits
The new lawsuits are under Chamber 4a, led by Judge Tilmann Büttner, regarding devices like Amazon’s Fire TV. The cases have been officially served to Amazon, with specific case IDs (4b O 31/25, 4a O 61/25, 4a O 62/25). Tagivan is asserting three patents, while M&K Holdings and Gensquare each claim two patents.
The court may separate individual patents into different proceedings. These patents are likely the same ones previously asserted against Microsoft.
Amazon’s Legal Challenges
Amazon is encountering a growing number of patent disputes in Europe, particularly with InterDigital, regarding video coding licenses. While no infringement suits have been filed, InterDigital secured injunctions limiting Amazon’s ability to seek interim licenses from other courts.
The UK High Court has countered with an order preventing InterDigital from acting against license rate determinations in the UK.
Legal Representation Updates
Via LA is once again partnering with patent attorneys Gottfried Schüll and legal counsel Axel Verhauwen, both longstanding collaborators. They have successfully represented Via LA in previous cases.
Amazon’s legal representation in this new case remains unspecified, although Hogan Lovells previously maintained a strong relationship with the company. Klaus Haft at Hoyng ROKH Monegier recently managed Amazon’s defense concerning injunctions in Germany.
