Nokia announced it has separately filed lawsuits against Amazon and HP over alleged infringement of its video-related patents.

Arvin Patel, Nokia’s Chief Licensing Officer, explained the company’s action in a blog post:

Today, we have commenced legal action against Amazon for the unauthorized use of Nokia’s video-related technologies in its streaming services and devices. Cases have been filed in the US, Germany, India, the UK, and the European Unified Patent Court.

Amazon Prime Video and Amazon’s streaming devices infringe a mix of Nokia’s multimedia patents covering multiple technologies including video compression, content delivery, content recommendation and aspects related to hardware.

Separately, we have also filed cases in the US against HP for the unauthorized use of Nokia’s patented video-related technologies in their devices.

Patel made clear that litigation is never Nokia’s first choice, but the company was left with no choice in these particular instances:

I want to stress that litigation is never our first choice. The vast majority of our patent licensing agreements are agreed amicably. To put this into context, since 2017, we have concluded or extended over 250 licenses – including amicable licenses with Apple and Samsung – and launched just 6 litigation campaigns. We’ve been in discussions with each of Amazon and HP for a number of years, but sometimes litigation is the only way to respond to companies who choose not to play by the rules followed and respected by others. And let’s be clear: Amazon and HP benefit significantly from Nokia’s multimedia inventions.

The executive also made clear Nokia’s stance that entire industries have been enabled and powered by its investments and innovations:

It’s no secret that Over-the-top (OTT) streaming is a huge growth market. In 2022, the global OTT streaming market generated almost $150 billion in revenue. This year it is expected to grow to more than $170 billion. And by 2027 the market is estimated to reach $300 billion. Yet, there’s a mismatch between those who invested in developing the technologies that underpin streaming services and those who benefit the most. For example, since 2000, Nokia has invested more than €140 billion (and over €4.5 billion last year alone) in R&D for cutting edge technologies including cellular and multimedia. As a result, we hold one of the world’s strongest patent portfolios of connectivity and multimedia technologies – and it is no exaggeration to say that entire industries are powered by these inventions.

The patent case will be interesting to watch and could have a significant impact on the streaming market.