UPC_CFI_471/2023
Method for presenting rate-adaptive streams
DISH Technologies and Sling TV sued AYLO entities at the Mannheim Local Division for infringement of EP 2 479 680, a patent covering adaptive bitrate HTTP video streaming. The court dismissed the infringement action finding neither literal nor equivalent infringement, because AYLO's streaming systems did not perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same effect as the claimed means; the revocation counterclaim was partially successful, with the patent maintained in amended form under Auxiliary Request 12 at a dispute value of EUR 20,000,000.
defendants' adaptive bitrate HTTP streaming systems do not literally infringe the claims of EP 2 479 680
BeklagterRechtsgrundlage: Art. 25 UPCAHinweis: The court dismissed the infringement claim after finding no literal infringement.
no doctrine-of-equivalents infringement under any member state's equivalence doctrine applicable to the relevant infringing acts, because the alleged substitute means do not perform substantially the same function to achieve substantially the same effect
BeklagterRechtsgrundlage: Art. 25 UPCA; equivalence doctrine of applicable member states; Mannheim LD decisions of 11 March 2025Hinweis: Headnote 1: the court held that equivalent infringement is excluded under all member states' equivalence tests if the substituted means lacks technical-functional equivalence (not substantially same function / substantially same effect); followed Brussels LD decision of 17 January 2025.
there is no legal interest in a counterclaim seeking revocation of dependent claims alone without attacking the independent claim they refer back to
KlägerRechtsgrundlage: R. 30.1 VerfOHinweis: Headnote 2: the court held that revocation of dependent sub-claims in isolation, without revoking the independent claim to which they refer, generally lacks legal interest because dependent claims do not expand the scope of the patent.
patent maintained in amended form under Auxiliary Request 12
BeklagterRechtsgrundlage: Art. 65(3) UPCAHinweis: The revocation counterclaim succeeded in part - patent not fully revoked but maintained in amended form; infringement costs borne by claimant, revocation costs by respondent.
defendants' streaming services literally or equivalently infringe EP 2 479 680
KlägerRechtsgrundlage: Art. 25 UPCA; doctrine of equivalentsBegründung: No literal infringement found; no equivalent infringement because the substitute means in AYLO's systems do not achieve substantially the same function/effect as the claimed features.
full revocation of EP 2 479 680 including all auxiliary requests
BeklagterRechtsgrundlage: Art. 65 UPCA; Art. 138 EPCBegründung: Patent was maintained in amended form under Auxiliary Request 12; full revocation was not ordered.
late disclosure of video file encoding information should be ordered under R. 191 RoP
KlägerRechtsgrundlage: R. 191 RoPBegründung: Disclosure refused because validity was uncertain, defendants had already provided information in their defence submissions, and claimant had not exhausted other available information sources; also potentially a fishing expedition.
Weitere Fälle zu diesem Grundsatz ansehen.
The patent (EP 2 479 680) claims a method for adaptive bitrate HTTP streaming where a media player requests sequential file segments over TCP connections, generates a performance factor based on network conditions, and makes shift decisions based on that factor. Key disputed constructions concerned: (1) the role and function of 'servers' in the claim (whether CDN servers qualify as claimed servers); (2) the meaning of 'bitrate' in the context of the specific performance-factor algorithm; (3) whether equivalent implementations using CDN architectures satisfy claim elements directed at origin-server storage and retrieval patterns.