Context: Since June 2024, several Access Advance licensors have been enforcing their High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC, or H.265) patents against Roku. One of those patentees is Dolby, which, in June, filed a preliminary injunction (PI) motion in the Landgericht MĂĽnchen I (Munich I Regional Court) (August 29, 2025 ip fray article).
What’s new: Dolby was granted the PI based on the asserted standard-essential patent (SEP) – the first-ever to be granted based on an SEP in Germany, according to Dr. Volkmar Henke, who represents Dolby in its suit against Roku (November 20, 2025 LinkedIn post by Dr. Volkmar Henke). The SEP-based PI is also the first-ever to be granted in Europe. Dr. Henke added: “Congrats to our client Dolby for entrusting us with this nice case. Thanks for the great teamwork, also with the pool administrator Access Advance.”
Direct impact and wider ramifications: This is major news for patentees enforcing in Germany (and generally in Europe). The only jurisdictions so far in which courts are known to have granted PIs over SEPs are Brazil (July 12, 2025 ip fray article), Colombia (WIPO summary), and Romania (March 23, 2016 Comparative Patent Remedies article by Professor Thomas Cotter). In the U.S. it’s generally difficult to win patent PIs.
The case number is 21 O 8296/25 (21st Civil Chamber: Presiding Judge Dr. Georg Werner), and the patent-in-suit is:
- EP2777270 (“Procedure for coding and decoding of images, apparatus for coding and decoding and corresponding computer programs”)
Counsel
Dolby is being represented by BARDEHLE PAGENBERG’s Dr. Volkmar Henke, Tilman Müller, Georg Anetsberger, Dr. Benedikt Dellen, Johannes Möller, and Lisa Fleidl.
For a non-exhaustive list of Bardehle Pagenberg’s prior achievements, see the firm’s ip fray profile.