Context:
- InterDigital has already won three German injunctions against The Walt Disney Company, all of which were ordered by the Munich I Regional Court (February 13, 2026 ip fray article), and two in Brazil (September 11, 2025 ip fray article). The Unified Patent Court’s (UPC) Mannheim Local Division (LD) granted InterDigital an anti-antisuit injunction (AASI) (May 30, 2025 ip fray article).
- Ahead of today’s hearing, the UPC’s Mannheim LD’s Judge-rapporteur Tobias Sender outlined various questions and some preliminary views. Without access to the record, drawing inferences from such a document is not easy, but ip fray connected the dots between claim construction and its potential consequences; looked at the disputed claim terms; and noted that certain questions, such as the amount of a potential royalty rate, were nowhere to be found. On that basis, InterDigital appeared considerably more likely to win than Disney (April 24, 2026 ip fray article).
What’s new: The hearing was held today and lasted only one day (not even a long day), though the court had originally allocated more time. As discussed below, it was a very bad day in court for Disney. The decision will come down on June 16, 2026, and a multi-country injunction looms large.
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Court and counsel
Mannheim LD: Presiding Judge Prof. Peter Tochtermann, Judge-rapporteur Tobias Sender, Judge Daniel Severinsson (a Swedish national sitting primarily on the Munich seat of the Central Division who filled in for Slovenian Judge Mojca Mlakar, who unexpectedly became unavailable for today’s hearing), and Technically Qualified Judge Dr. Dennis Kretschmann.
Counsel for InterDigital:
- Arnold Ruess’s (ip fray firm profile) Cordula Schumacher, Dr. Lisa Rieth, Victoria Thuesing (“Thüsing”), and Julija Kravtsova.
- df-mp (ip fray firm profile) patent attorneys David Molnia, Dr. Dominik Ho, and Matthias Duda, Roland Pueltz (“PĂĽltz”), and Jakob Benedict Dandl.
- In-house counsel Steve Akerley also attended in person.
Counsel for Disney: Pentarc’s (ip fray firm profile) Dr. Dietrich Kamlah and other professionals.