Disney-Owned Streamers Face Lawsuit Over Patent Violations
By Movieguide® Contributor
Technology company Adeia claimed Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu all infringed on patent-protected technology, leading to a lawsuit.
“We always prefer to reach a mutually agreeable resolution without litigation as we have done with the vast majority of our customers, however we were left with no choice but to defend our intellectual property from Disney’s unauthorized use,” Adeia CEO Paul Davis said in a statement.
The 167-page lawsuit claimed that Disney’s streaming sites infringed on six of Adeia’s patents that relate to episode-tracking methods, cloud data storage, synchronization and more. The company is seeking damages totaling to an unspecified monetary amount, otherwise, Adeia will take Disney to court.
Adeia owns the rights to over 11,500 patents and leases its technology to companies that include AT&T, Verizon and Comcast. The company has previously taken to court to defend its patents. Earlier this year Adeia collected a payday from Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, after a court ruled the social media site was infringing on patent-protected technology. X was also ordered to pay $3 million per year in perpetuity as long as it continues using Adeia’s patent.
Disney has yet to respond to Adeia’s claim, and it remains unclear whether the dispute will be settled outside of court or come down to a judge’s discretion.
Disney, however, is no stranger to lawsuits, even within the streaming space. The company’s joint sports streaming site Venu, for example, was blocked from launching after rival sports streamer Fubo alleged its creation broke antitrust laws.
Though the lawsuit is still ongoing, Fubo’s complaint is costing Disney millions of dollars that it would be collecting through Venu. Disney, meanwhile, has vehemently argued against Fubo’s claims.
“We believe that Fubo’s arguments are wrong on the facts and the law, and that Fubo has failed to prove it is legally entitled to a preliminary injunction,” Disney, Fox and WBD stated after the injunction. “Venu Sports is a pro-competitive option that aims to enhance consumer choice.”
READ MORE: TRIAL DATE SET FOR VENU SPORTS ANTITRUST LAWSUIT
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