Disney sued by Adeia over Hulu, ESPN streaming technology

Adeia

08/11/2024 16:31

By Blake Brittain
       Nov 8 (Reuters) - Technology company Adeia  ADEA.O  has
sued Disney  DIS.N  in Delaware federal court for allegedly
violating its patent rights in video streaming technology.
    Adeia filed a lawsuit on Thursday claiming that Disney's
Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+ streaming services infringe six of its
patents covering various improvements to streaming
functionality.
    Spokespeople for Disney did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on the lawsuit on Friday.
    "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 on Thursday. Davis also said that
Adeia remains "willing to negotiate a resolution that fairly
compensates" the company.
    San Jose, California-based Adeia was the intellectual
property licensing unit of TiVo owner Xperi before Xperi was
spun off into an independent company in 2022. Adeia said in the
lawsuit that it owns more than 11,500 patents and patent
applications and has licensed its media patents to companies
including AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.
    Adeia settled a dispute with X Corp earlier this year over
allegations that X infringed Adeia patents related to technology
including content recommendations, digital advertising and
social media integration.
    In the lawsuit filed Thursday, Adeia accused Disney's
streaming services of violating its patent rights in improved
streaming, cloud data storage, episode progress tracking and
other technology.
    Adeia asked the court for an unspecified amount of monetary
damages and an order blocking Disney's alleged infringement.
    The case is Adeia Technologies Inc v. Walt Disney Co, U.S.
District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:24-cv-01231.
    For Adeia: Bradley Caldwell, Jason Cassady, Austin Curry and
Brian Johnston of Caldwell Cassady & Curry
    For Disney: attorney information not yet available
    Read more:
    X Corp, Adeia settle legal fight over digital-media patents

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713))