Nokia sues Amazon and HP for patent infringement in video streaming 

Finnish telecom giantNokia has taken legal action against Amazon and HP, filing a lawsuit in Delaware federal court that alleges patent infringement related to video streaming technology. Nokia's complaint asserts that Amazon's Prime Video and Twitch streaming services, as well as HP's computers, violate its patents concerning video streaming compression, delivery, and other relevant technology.

The telecom company has stated that both Amazon and HP declined to obtain licenses for these patents and, instead, utilised Nokia's technology to enhance the efficiency and quality of video streaming. Nokia has also initiated related lawsuits against Amazon in Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and the European Unified Patent Court.

According to Reuters, Nokia expressed its hope that Amazon and HP would recognise their obligations and engage in negotiations for licensing in good faith. The lawsuits specify that dozens of companies have already secured licenses for Nokia's video encoding and decoding patents. These patents enable high-quality video streaming while reducing bandwidth and data-storage requirements. Moreover, some of these patents are considered essential to the International Telecommunication Union standards for video coding technology.

Nokia maintains that it offered Amazon and HP licenses on fair terms, but they have not accepted the terms, leading to the legal action. Nokia is seeking court orders to halt Amazon and HP's alleged patent infringement and is pursuing monetary damages, the specific amount of which has not been disclosed.

Nokia's patent portfolio, as announced earlier this year during a 5G wireless patent license agreement with Apple, is the result of investments in research and development, totalling over 140 billion euros. It encompasses approximately 20,000 patent families, underscoring the company's commitment to innovation. The lawsuits against Amazon and HP, addressing video streaming patent infringement, mark Nokia's proactive efforts to protect its intellectual property and ensure that its technology is used in compliance with established standards.

The cases are as follows: Nokia Technologies OY v. Amazon.com Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:23-cv-01236 and Nokia Technologies OY v. HP Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:23-cv-01237. Legal representation for Nokia includes Warren Lipschitz, Josh Newcomer, and Kevin Burgess from McKool Smith, as well as Ted Stevenson, John Haynes, and Nicholas Tsui from Alston & Bird. Attorneys for Amazon and HP are not yet identified.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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