MPEG LA, LLC announced that several patent holders in MPEG LA’s MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License have filed separate patent enforcement actions in Landgericht Düsseldorf, Germany against Aldi Nord GmbH & Co. oHG (Aldi Nord) and Aldi Süd GmbH & Co. oHG (Aldi Süd), as well as Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG and Lidl Dienstleistung GmbH & Co. KG (Lidl), for infringing patents essential to the MPEG-2 digital video compression standard.

According to the complaints, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd offer in Germany products such as desktop computers, laptop computers, set-top boxes, DVD players, Blu-ray Disc (BD) players and digital televisions, some under Aldi Süd’s own Tevion house brand name, that use patent protected MPEG-2 methods without license.

The complaints also allege that Lidl offers in Germany products such as laptop computers, set-top boxes, DVD players and digital televisions, some under Lidl’s own Silvercrest house brand, that use patent protected MPEG-2 methods without license.

The suit seeks, among other things, monetary damages and injunctions prohibiting Aldi Nord, Aldi Süd and Lidl from using MPEG-2 patents in their products and from offering, marketing, or importing them.

For more information visit: www.mpegla.com