{"id":1711,"date":"2025-02-07T11:32:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T11:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/?p=1711"},"modified":"2025-02-08T10:04:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T10:04:48","slug":"nokia-wins-first-ever-germany-wide-patent-injunction-against-amazon-prime-video-streaming-service-after-three-wins-over-amazon-devices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/nokia-wins-first-ever-germany-wide-patent-injunction-against-amazon-prime-video-streaming-service-after-three-wins-over-amazon-devices\/","title":{"rendered":"Nokia wins first-ever Germany-wide patent injunction against Amazon Prime Video streaming service after three wins over Amazon devices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Context:<\/strong> Nokia has already won three patent rulings relating to Amazon streaming devices like the Fire TV Stick. A Germany-wide permanent injunction that the Munich I Regional Court ordered last year (September 20, 2024 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>) has been enforced for a few months now. Shortly before the end of the year, Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Cameron Elliot of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC, or just ITC) deemed four out of five Nokia patents infringed by Amazon and recommended a limited exclusion order (U.S. import ban) (December 21, 2024 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>) and held Amazon responsible for its unlicensed status while Nokia discharged its FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) licensing obligations (January 9, 2025 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>). Last week, ALJ Doris Johnson Hines of the USITC held another Nokia patent infringed by Amazon products (January 30, 2024 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>), so there could be even two U.S. import bans over up to five patents in place soon. Some other streaming providers have taken licenses (see, e.g.,<\/em> this LinkedIn post by Nokia\u2019s Arvin Patel<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s new:<\/strong> Today, Nokia has for the first time won an injunction against a major streaming service. The Landgericht D\u00fcsseldorf (Dusseldorf Regional Court) has enjoined Amazon from infringing, through its Prime Video service, EP2271048<\/a> (“Method for provisioning a multimedia service”) (case no. 4c O 49\/23). The patent-in-suit covers an implementation<\/em><\/strong> method for provisioning a multimedia service to a rendering device from a communication device by a server. This does not<\/em><\/strong> appear to be specific to any particular standard<\/strong><\/em> and covers streaming features such as Amazon Prime Video\u2019s casting functionality. Separately, a second patent was not deemed infringed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct impact:<\/strong> Both decisions are appealable, and Amazon can seek an enforcement stay, but German courts rarely grant that, so the injunction will probably get enforced very soon (like the Munich injunction).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wider ramifications:<\/strong> Theoretically, the enforcement of this injunction could be thwarted by the High Court of Justice for England & Wales (EWHC) after the England & Wales Court of Appeal (EWCA) sided with Amazon and revived a bid for an interim license (January 30, 2024 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>). But the courts of law in various countries and the USITC (a U.S. trade agency with quasi-judicial authority) are not defenseless. There are ways in which they can defend their jurisdiction against UK judicial imperialism (February 4, 2025 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

To enforce the judgment during Amazon’s foreseeable appeal, Nokia will have to provide collateral of \u20ac646.75 million (US$670 million) to enforce the judgment during Amazon’s appeal, of which \u20ac572.75 million (US$594 million) is just for the Prime Video injunction. The injunction also applies to various Amazon products, but enforcement against them requires security of a smaller amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nokia provided the following statement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Litigation is always a last resort for Nokia.\u202f Our goal is for Amazon\u2019s consumers to benefit from our substantial investment in multimedia R&D. But the innovation ecosystem breaks down if patent-holders are not fairly compensated for the use of their technologies, as it becomes much harder for innovators to fund the development of next generation technologies. \u202fWe welcome the court\u2019s decision and hope Amazon accepts its obligations and agrees a license on fair terms.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The last sentence is interesting at this stage, given that Nokia is already enforcing a German injunction and with a U.S. import ban (or even two such bans) looming large. Theoretically, the Commission (the political appointees at the top of the ITC) can overrule the ALJ (or a Presidential veto could issue), but a wholesale reversal is unlikely to happen when five patents have been deemed infringed. Amazon is trying to delay or even derail the ITC proceedings (January 17, 2025 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>), but its primary argument for a postponement of the final decision there is no longer valid: ITC commissioner Rhonda K. Schmidtlein has stepped down (January 16, 2025 ITC press release<\/a>), so the Commission is able to make majority decisions even if Amazon’s procedural arguments had been meritorious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For whatever reason, Amazon is fighting very hard to avoid paying Nokia, but took a license from Adeia last year (December 3, 2024 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>). Amazon is even countersuing, which is out of character for it (July 31, 2024 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>). But streaming services are increasingly expected to compensate right holders. Two major patent pool administrators have recently launched offers to the streaming industry (January 16, 2025 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>). And earlier this week, InterDigital’s multi-jurisdictional enforcement of standard-essential patents (SEPs) against Disney became known (February 3, 2025 ip fray<\/strong> article<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second patent-in-suit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The patent with respect to which the Dusseldorf court let Amazon off the hook is EP2130150<\/a> (“Systems, methods, devices, and computer program products for arranging a user’s media files”). Nokia can appeal that non-infringement ruling (case no. 4c O 50\/23) to the Oberlandesgericht D\u00fcsseldorf (Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panel and counsel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Panel: Presiding Judge Sabine Klepsch, Judge-rappporteur Dr. Janich and Judge Wimmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Nokia: Arnold & Ruess’s Dr. Bernhard Arnold<\/a> and Dr. Arno Risse<\/a> (“Ri\u00dfe” in German).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Amazon: Hogan Lovells’s Dr. Steffen Steininger<\/a> and Dr. Benjamin Schroeer<\/a> (“Schr\u00f6er” in German).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Context: Nokia has already won three patent rulings relating to Amazon streaming devices like the Fire TV Stick. A Germany-wide permanent injunction that the Munich I Regional Court ordered last year (September 20, 2024 ip fray article) has been enforced for a few months now. Shortly before the end of the year, Administrative Law Judge…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,78,73,28,146,34,133,12,14,15,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amazon","category-germany","category-jurisdictions","category-l-icensors-licensees","category-multimedia","category-nokia","category-nokia-v-amazon","category-patent-litigation","category-patents","category-standard-essential-patents","category-technology-fields-markets"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1711"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1729,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711\/revisions\/1729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipfray.com\/staging1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}