German Court Rules Against Apple In Video Streaming Patent Case

A German court reportedly ruled against Apple Inc. Wednesday after Kudelski Group’s OpenTV sued the iPhone maker for infringing on its video streaming technology. The Wednesday ruling bars the Silicon Valley giant from selling products which use streaming software that infringes OpenTV’s patents in Germany.

The lawsuit, filed in a Dusseldorf district court in 2014, is related to three patents owned by OpenTV and its sister company, Nagra. The company’s allegations cover a broad range of Apple’s products and services like its mobile devices, Apple TV, App Store and its personal computers.

"The [OpenTV] claim is predominantly valid and well-founded," the Dusseldorf court reportedly said in its ruling on Tuesday. Apple is yet to say if it will appeal the court’s decision or comply with the ruling, according to reports.

The Kudelski Group is involved in another legal action against Apple in the U.S., alleging that Apple was infringing its patents for accessing interactive content on smartphones and computers.

The German group settled multiple law suits against popular streaming service Netflix last year. Nagra now integrates Netflix into set-top boxes that use its technology. Kudelski has also reportedly entered a cross-licensing agreement with Verizon over its Fios television service and has struck licensing agreements with Cisco, Google and Disney as well.