Patent pool sues Samsung over video encoding SEPs
Samsung has been accused of infringing standard-essential patents (SEPs) in a patent pool of video encoding technology to which it was a prior contributor.
MPEG LA claimed that Samsung infringed patents essential to the high-efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard—also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2.
The pool in question covers inventions used in digital video encoding and decoding technology for internet, television, and mobile transmission.
MPEG LA announced in a press release on Monday, March 28, that it was pursuing legal action against Samsung in a Dusseldorf regional court. The announcement was first spotted by FOSSpatents.
According to MPEG LA, Samsung was both licensor and licensee to MPEG LA’s HEVC patent portfolio from autumn 2014 to March 2020.
However, when the agreement between MPEG LA and Samsung ended, Samsung continued to use the patented technology in its smartphones, tablets, and televisions.
MPEG LA is seeking injunctions, monetary damages and expenses damages from Samsung for its continued infringement.
The actions were brought by a team of lawyers led by Axel Verhauwen of Krieger Mes & Graf v der Groeben and Gottfried Schüll of German patent firm Cohausz & Florack.
The HEVC patent pool boasts approximately 400 licensees, according to MPEG LA. Recently, Huawei and several of its subsidiaries entered into a patent portfolio licence agreement to license the patents.
Germany lawsuits
MPEG LA has a history of litigating its patent lawsuits in the same Dusseldorf court.
It sued Huawei in the same court over its Advanced Video Coding patent portfolio, culminating in a win for MPEG LA in November 2018 in which the court ruled in favour of the patentholders and found that Huawei had infringed their patents using technology in its mobile phones and tablets.
The court granted an injunction against Huawei ordering that all infringing phones had to be recalled and destroyed, which prompted another licensing agreement to be struck between the Chinese telecoms giant and MPEG in February 2019.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox
Today’s top stories
