MPEG LA sues Samsung in Germany over patent infringement

Colorado-based tech firm MPEG LA has sued Samsung for infringing on its HEVC patents.

The actions have been brought in Landgericht Düsseldorf, Germany, with MPEG LA stating that Samsung has violated its patent portfolio licence. The patents in question, it said, are essential to the HEVC digital video coding standard used in products that encode and decode video for Internet, television and mobile transmission, reception and use.

The suit, which has been brought against Samsung’s German business, states that its International parent company was both licensor and licensee to MPEG LA’s HEVC Patent Portfolio License from Autumn 2014 through to March 2020.

MPEG LA however alleges that Samsung has continued to offer products – such as smartphones and TVs – in Germany that use the patents. The enforcement is seeking injunctions and monetary damages.

This is not the first time that Samsung has been sued by MPEG LA. MPEG LA won a US$115 million judgement against Samsung in January, 2015. Samsung was found to have improperly terminated contracts with MPEG LA.

This was later overturned by the New York State Court of Appeals in 2018, siding with Samsung that the termination was “proper under the plain language of both agreements.”