The European Patent Office (EPO) has revoked a key patent held by DivX, dealing a blow to the company in its ongoing dispute with Netflix. The patent, EP 4 213 033 (EP 033), covers progressive video playback technology, including features like fast-forwarding and rewinding, specifically detailing a method for client-side management of byte-range requests and trickplay functions within a video stream stored on remote servers.

This decision comes despite a recent ruling by the Unified Patent Court’s (UPC) Munich division, which upheld the same patent and found Netflix liable for indirect infringement across 18 UPC member states. The EPO decision stands in contrast to the ruling handed down on 15 September 2026 by the second panel of the UPC’s Munich local division, where Presiding Judge Daniel Voß, alongside legally qualified judges Georg Werner and Tatyana Zhilova, and technically qualified judge Torsten Duhme, dismissed Netflix’s counterclaim for revocation and upheld EP 033 as granted (case IDs: UPC_CFI_465/2025 and UPC_CFI_1121/2025).

DivX’s Patent Woes Continue

This isn’t the first setback for DivX at the EPO. The Opposition Division previously revoked another DivX patent, EP 34 67 666 (EP 666), for impermissible extension, a decision later upheld by the Boards of Appeal. In August 2026, the Enlarged Board of Appeal rejected DivX’s petition for review in the EP 666 case. Additionally, the German Federal Court of Justice dismissed DivX’s appeal against the invalidation of EP 2 661 696 in September 2025.

DivX can appeal the latest revocation to the Technical Boards of Appeal.

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UPC Munich Takes a Different View

A different stance was taken by the UPC Munich panel, led by Judge Daniel Voß, which found that the patent‘s teachings were not obvious or anticipated based on existing technology. The judges decided that a person with expertise in the field would not have been motivated to combine the cited references to arrive at the claimed invention, and also ruled that Netflix’s streaming software, including the Cadmium player, indirectly infringes the patent.

The UPC issued a cross-border injunction against Netflix in 18 member states, prohibiting the offering or supplying of the infringing software. The court also ordered the five Netflix entities named as defendants — including Netflix Inc., Netflix International B.V., and the national subsidiaries in Germany, Italy, and France — to provide information and render accounts. Netflix was declared liable for damages from 7 May 2025, the date the patent was granted.

The court set minimum recurring penalty payments of €5,000 per day for non-compliance with the injunction and €250 per day for breaches of the information and accounting obligations. The panel rejected Netflix’s request to condition enforcement on DivX providing security, noting that the patent expires in less than 18 months and that such a requirement could prevent DivX from enforcing its rights during the remaining term. According to the register, Netflix lodged an appeal at the UPC Court of Appeal (case ID: UPC-COA-177/2026).

A Global Battle

The fight between DivX and Netflix extends beyond Europe, with legal battles in Germany, the Netherlands, the US, and Brazil. In 2022, the Mannheim Regional Court initially granted DivX two injunctions against Netflix based on EP 666, but the Higher Regional Court Karlsruhe later stayed enforcement following the EPO revocation. In the Netherlands, the Amsterdam court declined to align its judgment with the Mannheim ruling in early 2023.