MPEG-2 patent holders slam suit vs. Lenovo

Several patent holders in MPEG LA LLC's MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License have filed separate patent enforcement actions in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and Landgericht D锟絪seldorf against Lenovo Group Ltd, Lenovo (United States) Inc. and Lenovo (Germany) GmbH. MPEG LA alleged that the Lenovo group has infringed patents essential to the MPEG-2 digital video compression standard used worldwide in DTV broadcasting and DVD.

According to the complaints, Lenovo offers in the United States and Germany products (i.e. desktop PCs, laptop PCs, Blu-ray Disc drives, DVD drives and software) that patent protected MPEG-2 methods without having entered into licenses with the individual patent holders or a portfolio license that includes these patents offered by MPEG LA.

The suit seeks, among other things, monetary damages and an injunction prohibiting Lenovo from using MPEG-2 patents in its products and from offering, marketing or importing them.