Dispute Over Dolby Vision Could Cost Disney 101.7 Million Euros

September 15, 2026, 9:33 am | Read time: 3 minutes

Disney now faces a multimillion-dollar damages claim in a patent dispute with InterDigital. The U.S. technology company has filed a lawsuit in the Munich I Regional Court, demanding 101.7 million euros. At the center is a technology for improving image quality.

Court Found Patent Infringement

The current claim stems from the European patent EP 2 132 923, as reported by sources such as “Bloomberg.” As early as November 2025, the Munich I Regional Court determined that Disney had infringed the patent. The court then issued a preliminary injunction. Consequently, Disney removed support for Dolby Vision from its streaming service.

HDR stands for enhanced contrast representation and is intended to make movies and series look visibly better on compatible TVs. Dolby Vision is one of the well-known HDR formats and was previously part of the Disney+ offering.

With the new lawsuit, InterDigital is seeking damages for a period of more than five years. According to the company, this period extends from the launch of Disney+ in Germany in March 2020 to the court decision at the end of 2025. InterDigital also argues that the affected technology was not used exclusively for customers in Germany. Accordingly, the data streams were transmitted via a server farm near Frankfurt to subscribers in 19 other European countries.

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Premium Subscription Plays a Role

According to InterDigital, it is also significant that Dolby Vision was part of the more expensive premium subscription of Disney+. This package costs five euros more than the standard offer. The company claims that no license fees were paid for the use of the technology during the entire period. The demand for 101.7 million euros is based on these allegations. Whether the court will follow this argument is currently still open.

Also of interest: Disney+ loses in court and must remove popular feature

The impact of the patent dispute is not limited to Dolby Vision. In early September, InterDigital obtained another injunction from the Unified Patent Court in Düsseldorf. This case focused on Google Cast technology, which allows videos to be transferred from a smartphone to a TV.

As a result, Disney disabled the Google Cast feature in Germany and the Netherlands. Users can no longer transfer content from their smartphones to TVs using Google Cast.

Further Proceedings Underway

In addition to the already known decisions, further patent lawsuits between the companies are pending. InterDigital states that it continues to seek a long-term licensing agreement with Disney.

There has been no public response from Disney to the current damages lawsuit so far.

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of TECHBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@techbook.de.