Disney’s HEVC Patent War with InterDigital: Two Pan-European Injunctions and What Comes Next

Second UPC Injunction (July 23, 2026) – Düsseldorf Local Division. The Düsseldorf Local Division of the UPC granted InterDigital a second 11-country injunction against Disney, covering a different HEVC-related patent. This decision also confirmed the patent's validity and rejected Disney's defenses. The ip fray blog reported that three German national injunctions had already failed to push Disney to settle before this second UPC win.

Injunctions Beyond the UPC

InterDigital has pursued Disney on multiple fronts simultaneously:

• German national courts. InterDigital has obtained at least three separate injunctions against Disney in German national courts over related video streaming patents, preceding the UPC actions. These were issued by the Munich I Regional Court.
• Brazilian court. InterDigital obtained a preliminary merits-based injunction against Disney in Brazil over two streaming patents (covering AVC/H.264 and HEVC). It also secured the first-ever anti-antisuit injunction (AASI) in the Mannheim Local Division to block Disney from using a U.S. FRAND complaint to derail enforcement.

Why the UPC Rejected Disney’s FRAND Defense

In the June 16 decision, the Mannheim Local Division rejected Disney's FRAND defense on multiple grounds. The court found that Disney was an unwilling licensee during negotiations. Notably, the court assumed for purposes of its FRAND analysis that InterDigital's patent claims were at least de facto standard-essential—yet still ruled against Disney. The court also clarified that intangible video signals transmitted over a network can constitute a direct infringement, a significant legal ruling for streaming services.

Some commentary noted that the UPC also ruled, for the first time, that video encoding patents do not necessarily constitute standard-essential patents (SEPs) subject to FRAND licensing obligations, because the HEVC standard defines encoding as not part of its specifications. This nuance may have implications for future streaming patent cases.

Disney’s Narrowing Compliance Options

In the 11 UPC countries (plus Germany and Brazil), Disney faces a limited set of choices:

• Take a license from InterDigital on terms the UPC has signaled are reasonable.
• Revert from HEVC (H.265) to H.264 encoding for affected markets, which would degrade streaming quality and increase bandwidth costs.
• Reconfigure HEVC encoding to avoid the specific patented techniques, which is technically complex and may not fully resolve the issue.
• Appeal the UPC decisions—though injunctions remain enforceable during appeal absent a stay.

Stock Market Impact

Disney's stock fell 3.35% on July 23, 2026, trading near $92.66 and closing in on its 52-week low of $92.19. The stock is down roughly 20% over the past 12 months and has wiped out year-to-date gains. Investors weighed the second UPC injunction alongside broader concerns including renewed calls for corporate restructuring from activist investors, ongoing cord-cutting pressures on Disney's linear TV business, prior layoffs, and uncertainty around upcoming Q3 earnings (scheduled for August 5, 2026).

What’s Next: A Third UPC Decision

A third UPC decision in the InterDigital v. Disney dispute is expected on September 2, 2026, involving another asserted HEVC patent. Sources tracking the litigation anticipate this will further narrow Disney's options unless a settlement is reached before that date. The ip fray blog noted that the first two UPC injunctions did not lead to a settlement, suggesting the pressure will continue to build.