Netflix Inc.’s recent announcement of its decision to sue Broadcom Inc. has captured the attention of the technology and legal industry, as the lawsuit focuses on the alleged infringement of patents related to virtual machines owned by Broadcom subsidiary VMware Inc. The case, filed in federal court in California, highlights the growing importance of intellectual property in the information technology and software space.

For its part, Netflix argues that VMware has infringed five specific patents that are critical to the operation of virtual machines. Of these patents, three relate to the efficient use of CPU within virtual machines, while the other two relate to their integration into load balancers. The relevance of these technologies lies in their crucial role in cloud computing, as they enable the emulation of physical architectures and the expansion of computational resources.

It is worth mentioning that the aforementioned lawsuit is not only limited to the declaration of infringement, but also includes a list of products that, according to the company, infringe its intellectual property rights. These products include VMware vSphere Foundation, VMware Cloud Foundation and VMware Cloud on AWS, as well as cloud solutions from giants such as Microsoft, Google, Oracle, IBM and Alibaba. This broad product involvement underscores the gravity of the situation and the potential impact on the cloud computing market.

Netflix points out that the infringement began in 2012, the year in which VMware was notified of the existence of the “424 patent,” which had previously been cited by a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examiner during the examination process of a VMware patent application. This argument strengthens Netflix’s position by asserting that the infringement has been willful and continuous, which could result in severe penalties.

Also, the lawsuit includes a request for unspecified damages, which could have significant financial implications for Broadcom. It is important to remember that the relationship between Netflix and Broadcom is not new, as the two companies have been involved in patent disputes since 2018. This conflict has led to lawsuits being filed in various jurisdictions, including California, Germany and the Netherlands, highlighting the complexity of the patent system internationally and the need for a robust Intellectual Property defense strategy.

Finally, the U.S. trial is scheduled for June, adding an element of urgency to the situation.