UK court gives significant weight to Nokia offer in interim-payment ruling against Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount

Context: In February 2026, Nokia, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount agreed to resolve their global dispute over video streaming technologies through a UK court-determined reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) license, replacing parallel litigation with a single rate-setting process in England (February 26, 2026 ip fray article). The portfolio includes patents related to video compression and streaming technologies used to encode and decode digital video content. The arrangement provides for interim payments pending a final rate-setting trial scheduled for November 2026.  

What’s new: The High Court of Justice for England & Wales (EWHC) has set confidential interim payments that Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount must make to Nokia pending a November 2026 rate-setting trial. The court rejected the streamers’ arguments that there should be no adjustable portion of the interim payments and found no convincing evidence that significant interim payments would cause them meaningful prejudice. Mr. Justice Meade ultimately adjusted the refundable component upward from the average midpoint derived from Nokia’s Lump Sum Offer (NLSO), while leaving the final RAND determination for trial.

Direct impact: Meade J’s reasoning suggests that the November trial will hinge on the competing valuation frameworks advanced by Nokia and the streamers, with tens of millions of dollars potentially at stake if the pool-scaling approach is rejected.

Wider ramifications: The ruling suggests that UK courts may continue to rely on real-world licensing evidence and prior licensing offers when setting interim payments, while leaving broader valuation disputes to be resolved at trial.