Disney Says InterDigital Patent Tactics Threaten Streaming Apps

A Walt Disney Co. unit accused a wireless technology developer of unlawfully monopolizing US and foreign video-compression patents to demand excessive royalties for technologies used in its Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ streaming services.

Disney Enterprises Inc. sued InterDigital Inc. to block its licensing practices and enforce agreements that Disney said require “reasonable and non-discriminatory” terms for video-encoding patents essential to the H.264 and H.265 formats, according to a complaint filed Aug. 8 in the US District Court for the District of Delaware. Disney, which said the technology is essential for streaming platforms to ensure device compatibility, also wants to triple ...