In March 2026, amid the standard essential patent (SEP) dispute between InterDigital and Amazon, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the High Court of Justice of England and Wales (EWHC) successively issued new procedural orders. The rulings indicate that Amazon's current measures remain insufficient to fully eliminate the risk of violating the existing UPC injunction. Should Amazon fail to further adjust its claims in the UK litigation, it may be found in contempt of court and subject to sanctions.

This case stems from a licensing dispute over standard essential patents (SEPs) for video and communication technologies. InterDigital asserts ownership of multiple SEPs covering video streaming and wireless communication technologies, alleging that Amazon's Prime Video service, CloudFront content delivery network, and Fire series devices implement its patented technologies. After licensing negotiations failed, the dispute spread across multiple jurisdictions.

The focal point of this dispute lies in a claim Amazon retained in the UK litigation: should the UK court ultimately determine a FRAND royalty rate lower than InterDigital's claimed terms, and should InterDigital still seek enforcement of an injunction through the Unified Patent Court (UPC), Amazon may seek damages for this potential breach. However, the UPC deemed this claim potentially disruptive to its patent enforcement proceedings and ordered Amazon to withdraw this claim in the UK court to avoid violating the previously issued injunction.

Recent developments indicate that the UK High Court has amended the relevant ruling, further clarifying the scope of FRAND proceedings and correcting translation and wording issues in the prior decision. Nevertheless, the UPC noted in a subsequent new ruling that Amazon's current corrective actions remain insufficient to fully eliminate the risk of violating its anti-interference injunction. UPC stated that unless Amazon takes more explicit legal measures to restrict its claims in the UK litigation, it may still be found in contempt of court and face sanctions.

Case Background

August 29, 2025: Amazon filed a patent infringement lawsuit against InterDigital in the UK High Court (Case No.: HP-2025-000043);

On October 2, 2025, InterDigital countered by obtaining “Anti-Interim License Injunctions” (AILI) from both the Mannheim Regional Division of the UPC and Munich Regional Court No. 1. These injunctions prohibit Amazon from seeking compulsory interim licenses or declaring InterDigital in breach of its FRAND obligations before the High Court of Justice in England and Wales (EWHC). The Munich Regional Court injunction further included a clause imposing “a maximum penalty of €250,000 per infringement”;

On October 20, 2025, Amazon sought relief from the High Court of Justice of England and Wales (EWHC), obtaining an “interim anti-injunction injunction” issued by Judge Meade;

On November 10, 2025, InterDigital announced lawsuits against Amazon in the Mannheim Regional Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), Munich Regional Court, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, and the Rio de Janeiro Court in Brazil, alleging ongoing infringement of its 10 video content compression technology patents through devices like Fire TV and Kindle, as well as services such as Prime Video;

December 22, 2025: The Mannheim Regional Division of the UPC upheld its prior Anti-Interim License Injunction (AILI) and imposed a maximum fine of €50 million on Amazon, explicitly refusing to recognize the interim license imposed by the UK court.