Texas Instruments Incorporated v Network System Technologies LLC
[2024] EWHC 1066 (Pat)
Aylo Premium Ltd & Anor v Aylo Premium Ltd & Ors
27 March 2024
[2024] EWHC 1310 (Pat)
High Court
Two companies were fighting over a patent for streaming video. One company wanted a fast UK court decision to help them in a German court case. The judge said no because it would delay other cases and speeding up this one wouldn't be helpful enough. The judge also didn't make the losing side pay the costs, blaming the other side for making the situation unnecessarily difficult.
Key Facts
- •Dish Technologies LLC and Sling TV LLC (Dish) sued Aylo Premium Ltd, Aylo Freesites Ltd, Aylo Billing Limited, and Aylo Billing US Corp (Aylo) for patent infringement.
- •The patents relate to adaptive rate video streaming.
- •Parallel proceedings exist in Germany, with a German trial date set for December 6, 2024.
- •Aylo applied for expedition of the UK trial to influence the German proceedings.
- •Two UK actions were involved, one initiated by Dish in December 2023, and one by Aylo in March 2024.
- •The patents in dispute are '680 and '805, both from the same family.
- •Aylo is in the business of providing adult content streamed over the internet, with a significant UK market share.
- •The trial estimate is six to seven days, with a technical complexity of 4.
Legal Principles
Expedition will only be justified on the basis of real, objectively viewed urgency.
Gore v Geox [2008] EWCA Civ 622; Petter v EMC Europe Limited [2015] EWCA Civ 480
Four factors to consider for expedition: (1) good reason; (2) interference with administration of justice; (3) prejudice to the party; (4) other special factors.
Gore v Geox [2008] EWCA Civ 622; Petter v EMC Europe Limited [2015] EWCA Civ 480
Interaction with German proceedings can give rise to real, objectively viewed urgency for expedition.
Nicoventures v Philip Morris [2020] EWHC 1594 (Pat)
German courts consider decisions of other EPC contracting states, but this factor is not sufficient on its own for expedition.
Takeda v Hoffmann-La Roche [2018] EWHC 2155 (ChD); Nicoventures v Philip Morris [2020] EWHC 1594 (Pat)
Patents Court Practice Statement aims to bring patent cases to trial within 12 months of claim issue.
Patents Court Practice Statement of 1st February 2022
Outcomes
Expedition application denied.
While Aylo demonstrated a genuine connection to the UK market that could be affected by a German injunction, the risk of grave impact was not high; the utility of a faster UK trial was marginal; and the impact on other court users would be severe.
Trial date not moved to November/December.
The Practice Statement’s 12-month target was nearly met; moving the trial date forward would disrupt other court users and exceed the Practice Statement's allowance.
No order for costs.
Dish's approach of contesting every point unnecessarily increased the complexity and cost of the application, and Dish could have avoided the hearing by being more accommodating.