Netflix files suit against Broadcom over VMware virtual machine patents

Video streaming giant Netflix Inc. is suing Broadcom Inc. over virtual machine patents owned by the company’s subsidiary VMware Inc.

According to the lawsuit filed with a California federal court by Netflix Monday, the company said VMware’s cloud software infringes on five patents related to virtual machines.

Three of the patents Netflix said VMware infringes upon discuss CPU usage in virtual machines, while two involve at least one virtual machine in a load balancer. Virtual machines are fundamental to cloud computing because they emulate the physical architecture of computer systems and allow compute resources to be scaled up in cloud systems.

The lawsuit includes the products VMware vSphere Foundation, VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware Cloud on AWS and cloud solutions offered by companies that include Microsoft Corp., Google LLC, Oracle Corp., IBM Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Collectively Netflix called the products above part of its “424 Patent” and said VMware has been willfully infringing since 2012 when VMware had become aware of the patent. “The ’424 Patent was cited by an examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office during a rejection of VMware’s application that ultimately issued as U.S. Patent No. 8,650,564,” Netflix stated in the lawsuit.

Given that awareness, Netflix claims, Broadcom and VMware were engaged in “willful infringement,” and it asked the court to have Broadcom pay unspecified damages. VMware was acquired by Broadcom for $69 billion in 2023.

According to a report from Reuters, Netflix and Broadcom have been grappling with a longer patent dispute since 2018 over Netflix’s own alleged infringement of Broadcom patents of video streaming technology. Cases have been called in California, Germany and the Netherlands. The U.S. case is scheduled to go to trial in June.

Photo: Pixabay

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