Netflix ramps up pressure on Broadcom, files second countersuit in Northern District of California

Context: Broadcom (Avago) first sued Netflix over several video streaming patents in the Northern District of California in March 2020, alleging that Netflix “substantially and irreparably harmed” its business of selling semiconductor chips used in the set top boxes that enable traditional cable television services (PDF). Broadcom then took its enforcement campaign overseas, suing Netflix in Germany. However, it suffered several setbacks in 2024: a Bundespatentgericht (Federal Patent Court of Germany) decision declaring one of its enforced patents invalid (PDF (in German)) and a United States Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit decision reviving (PDF) two challenges brought by Netflix. Late last year, Netflix then filed a countersuit against Broadcom and its VMware subsidiary in the Northern District of California, alleging that the companies had infringed five of its former HP patents (December 24, 2024 ip fray article). Broadcom sought to dismiss that countersuit three months later, claiming that it was “an attempt by Netflix to distract from its own infringement and harass Broadcom” (March 4, 2025 ip fray article).

What’s new: Netflix has brought a second countersuit against Broadcom in the Northern District of California, once again asserting former HP patents.

Direct impact and wider ramifications: Netflix’s first countersuit is currently still pending in the Northern District of California at the motion-to-dismiss stage. This second suit comes only a few days after Broadcom filed a reply brief in that case, in which it made some arguments on what should be deemed abstract under § 101. This second suit will no doubt put pressure on Broadcom, which also lost a motion seeking to relate Netflix’s first countersuit to its own patent infringement suit in the Eastern District of Texas in February. Given the dents it suffered in its enforcement campaign last year, Broadcom will need a win soon.