Apple judged to be infringing OpenTV’s video streaming patents in Germany

A German court yesterday ruled against Apple in a video streaming patent case brought by Swiss company Kudelski’s OpenTV unit against the Cupertino company back in 2014.

The ruling states Apple products sold in Germany must not use streaming software that infringes OpenTV’s patents, according to a report by Reuters. “The claim is predominantly valid and well-founded,” the court ruled.

The German suit was filed in Düsseldorf District Court back in May 2014, and pertains to three patents owned by OpenTV and its sister company Nagra. A broad swathe of Apple products and services had been alleged to be infringing the video streaming patents — including its iOS mobile devices, Apple TV, App Store, and OS X-based personal computers.

It’s unclear what steps Apple will be taking to comply with the ruling or whether it intends to appeal. We’ve reached out to the company for comment and will update this story with any response.

The suit is not the only legal action the Kudelski group is taking against Apple. The group filed a patent suit against Cupertino in the U.S., also in 2014, alleging Apple was infringing patents for accessing interactive content on smartphones and computers. That case is ongoing.

The group has also filed multiple suits against Netflix in recent years — also in the U.S. and Europe. However the two agreed a settlement early last year after Netflix prevailed in several of the suits. Nagra now integrates Netflix into pay-TV set top boxes that use its technology.

Kudelski has also pursued Verizon (the parent company of TechCrunch’s parent, AOL) through the courts on patent grounds — relating to the latter’s Fios television service, video advertising functionality, and over-the-top streaming services including AOL.

Last month the two entered a cross-licensing agreement, terminating all litigated. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. In recent years Kudelski has also reached licensing agreements with Cisco, Google and Disney.

The group says it now has more than 4,500 patents and patent applications in its IP portfolio.