Rio court grants Dolby preliminary injunction in AV1 patent dispute against Skyworth

Context:

• Dolby has been actively enforcing video-codec patents in Brazil. Earlier this year, Dolby and IP Bridge brought separate patent infringement actions against Skyworth and related Brazilian entities concerning video technologies (February 1, 2026 ip fray article).
• Dolby has also recently pursued AV1-related litigation against Snap in Brazil and the United States.
• AV1 was developed by the Alliance for Open Media and promoted as a royalty-free video codec, but patent disputes involving AV1 implementations have increasingly emerged.

What’s new:

• Judge Ferreira of the 5th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro granted Dolby a preliminary injunction against Skyworth and related defendants.
• The defendants were ordered to refrain from implementing the patented technology in Skyworth products sold in Brazil and from launching products incorporating the technology, subject to a daily fine of BRL 30,000 (approximately USD 6,000 at current exchange rates) capped at BRL 600,000 (approximately USD 120,000).

Direct impact:

• The court found that Dolby had established a likelihood of success based on technical reports submitted with the complaint and held that continued use of the patented technology could cause harm to Dolby’s exclusive patent rights.
• Skyworth and the other defendants now face both the injunction and an accelerated technical examination of Dolby’s infringement allegations.

Wider ramifications: The decision follows other recent AV1-related enforcement efforts involving Dolby and other patent owners, calling into question the feasibility of truly royalty-free video standards. It highlights the growing importance of Brazil, and particularly Rio de Janeiro’s Business Courts, as a venue for technology-related patent disputes.