Context: In March, Adeia filed a patent infringement suit against U.S. satellite and internet TV services provider DISH Network and its subsidiary Sling TV, asserting five patents in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. DISH then filed a complaint in the Northern District of California, seeking declaratory judgments (DJs) of noninfringement and unpatentability of several of Adeia’s other patents relating to video delivery technologies. All of the patents-in-suit relate to technologies such as adaptive streaming, user interfaces, and integrated advertising. In May, Adeia’s former CEO Paul E. Davis (now replaced by Dipti Vachani: September 29, 2026 ip fray article) revealed more details on the infringement case in its Q1 earnings call, noting that the company was “disappointed” it could not reach acceptable terms for a renewal (May 6, 2026 ip fray article). In July, however, DISH filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, so Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak vacated the upcoming scheduling conference and all its related deadlines. Last month, DISH announced it had emerged from bankruptcy, and a scheduling hearing was reset to December 16, 2026 (October 12, 2026 S&P Global article).
What’s new: Adeia has filed a motion to dismiss DISH’s DJ complaint in the Northern District of California, asserting that DISH “does not allege an actual controversy” with Adeia over the 10 patents-in-suit – but rather “at most” it “tries to borrow one from DIRECTV”. The latter is another U.S.-based TV service provider that has also not renewed its license with Adeia, and which also filed a DJ action in the District of Northern California in December 2025. Adeia sued DIRECTV for trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract in the Southern District of New York, and the California court later dismissed DIRECTV’s action because it “failed to allege an actual controversy”. Adeia adds in its motion: “The plaintiff is different. The premise is the same. The case should be dismissed.”
Direct impact and wider ramifications: The hurdle for a motion to dismiss is reasonably high. While it is not a complete long shot, the proceedings are still in the very earliest stage, and none of the facts have been established yet. However, the outcome of the DIRECTV dispute could give Adeia a leg up.
This is Adeia’s motion, filed November 3, 2026:
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Counsel
DISH is being represented by a team at Baker Botts: Eliot D. Williams, Ali Nooruddin Dhanani, Brian Hausman, Griffin Randolph Tolle, Jamie R. Lynn, Kurt Max Pankratz, Zacharias Shepard, and George Hopkins Guy.
Meanwhile, Adeia is being represented by Caldwell Cassady Curry PC’s Andrew Thomas Langford, John Austin Curry, Bradley Wayne Caldwell, Brian D. Johnston, Christopher Stephen Stewart, Eric Horsley, Jason Dodd Cassady, John Summers, Robert Seth Reich, and Vladislava Wendel, as well as Margaret Elizabeth Day of Bunsow De Mory LLP.
In its Colorado case, Adeia is being represented by the same counsel, as well as Brian Scott Boerman of Sheridan Ross, P.C.