Google, YouTube Sued Over a Video-Streaming Patent

Technology company Max Sound Corp said it filed a lawsuit against Google Inc and YouTube in Germany earlier this month, alleging infringement of a video-streaming patent.

Reuters | Francois Lenoir

Max Sound claimed that all the products that use the H.264 video-encoding format for video compression infringed its asserted patent.

Max Sound's allegations include current versions of Google operating system, Android, installed on mobile phones and tablets. The complaint also addresses Google's latest products in the market such as Nexus5, Nexus 6, Nexus9 chromebook and chromecast.

The company also alleged violation of patent in the video service from YouTube, in which a newer format VP8 is used along with H.264.

The lawsuit was filed with the District Court of Mannheim, Germany against Google Commerce Ltd, Dublin, Ireland, Google Germany GmBH, Germany, and YouTube, Google's subsidiary, the company said.

Max Sound holds a worldwide license of the EU 2 026 277 patent for efficient transfer of digital content, which was founded by VSL communications.

Max Sound, inventor of Max-D HD Audio, which improves audio quality without increasing file size, said the court ruling is expected in less than 12 months.

Arnold Ruess, Dusseldorf and Witt-Mann Hernandez in Germany advised Max Sound Corp.

Google was not immediately available for comment outside of regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)