The streaming platform Netflix has filed a lawsuit against Broadcom, accusing its subsidiary VMware of infringing several patents related to virtual machine technology. The legal action, presented in a federal court in California, details that VMware allegedly violated the rights to five key patents of Netflix, known as 424, 707, 891, 893, and 122.
Netflix is seeking financial compensation, the amount of which has not yet been specified. The company claims that Broadcom and VMware, jointly, have severely infringed at least one of the mentioned patents. According to the legal document, this infringement includes the creation, use, sale, and offer of products protected by these patents inside and outside the United States.
The Patents and Their Scope
The patents in question relate to the operation and optimization of virtual machines, specifically in two key areas: CPU usage in virtualized environments and configuring virtual machines on physical hardware using load balancers. Products such as VMware vSphere Foundation, VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware Cloud on AWS, and similar services offered by Google, Azure, Oracle, Alibaba, and IBM are mentioned in the lawsuit as involved in these alleged infringements.
Netflix emphasizes that VMware was aware of at least one of the patents, known as “424,” since 2012. In that year, a researcher cited the patent before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during the evaluation of another VMware patent application, which was eventually accepted.
A History of Legal Disputes
The lawsuit adds to a history of legal confrontations between Netflix and Broadcom, which have had an ongoing conflict since 2018. In this case, Broadcom accuses Netflix of infringing patents related to video streaming technology. This dispute, which includes open cases in the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands, is scheduled for trial in California in June 2025.
The Importance of Virtual Machines in the Tech Industry
Virtual machines have revolutionized computing, allowing multiple operating systems and applications to run on a single physical hardware. This advancement has been crucial for the development of cloud solutions and the expansion of digital services. The dispute between Netflix and Broadcom highlights the importance of protecting innovations in this field, as intellectual property rights play a central role in technological competition.
For now, the case continues its course in the courts, marking another episode in the struggle for supremacy in the tech industry between two industry giants.
References: Reuters and lawsuit compliance.