EU Patent Court Blocks Dish Network From Viewing Pornhub Code

ENGLEWOOD, Colo./MONTREAL—Colorado-based streaming giant Dish Network was denied the ability to investigate the code utilized by Montreal-based Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, at the center of a video patent feud currently before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in the European Union. UPC Court of First Instance for the Local Division in Mannheim, Germany, said in filings last week that Aylo and its related companies have already satisfied previous requirements to provide transparency in the ongoing litigation before the patent tribunal, Law360.com reports. Dish and its subsidiary, Sling TV, also failed to convince the court that "paid subscriptions" are necessary to access relevant source code to examine potential similarity to the patent Dish currently holds. Additionally, the court also denied three separate discovery requests made by Dish, ruling they weren't proportionate to have standing. "An order to transmit information ... during the legal dispute is generally ruled out if the information requested is not relevant to the claims or objections pursued in the legal dispute," the Court of First Instance said. "In this case, the order to transmit it is generally at least disproportionate." The three discovery requests concerned the source code for video files, media players on web browsers like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Safari, and the content delivery networks (CDNs) Aylo uses for streaming, per the ruling. An appeals panel for the UPC found cause to require Aylo to face an alleged infringement on patent EP 2479680. This patent was first issued to Dish Technologies in 2005 for a technology called the "method for presenting rate adaptive streams." Adaptive streaming adjusts video or quality in real time based on a user's speed and device performance on streaming. This tech ensures smooth playback with little buffering, providing a good experience on both high and low-tech connections. The Unified Patent Court told the parties in the dispute that it has jurisdiction over the patent because Dish is claiming protection for its streaming tech. However, Aylo told the UPC that Dish must prove that Aylo's platforms infringe on the patent in the member countries of the court.