Exclusive: Dolby sues Lava in India over audio coding SEPs

Dolby has sued Indian smartphone maker Lava at the Delhi High Court for allegedly infringing its advanced audio coding standard-essential patents, Managing IP can reveal.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday, April 29, comes shortly after another patent innovator, Ericsson, secured record SEP damages of ₹244 crores ($29 million) in March against Lava. However, that lawsuit centred on Ericsson’s telecom patents.

In its pleadings, Dolby accused Lava of infringing eight patents covering its advanced audio coding (AAC) SEPs. Dolby licenses the SEPs bilaterally as well as through patent pool operator Via LA Licensing.

Five of those patents expired during its licensing negotiations with Lava, but Dolby claimed that it is still entitled to relief based on past profits made by Lava.

Implementers that have already taken licences from Dolby for its AAC technology include Oppo, Vivo and Reliance.

Both Dolby and Lava have been in licensing discussions for six years but haven't been able to agree on terms.

Separately, Lava has been in touch with Via LA Licensing to secure a licence for the pool’s AAC patents.

In its lawsuit, Dolby has asked the court to secure its interests by ordering Lava to make an interim security deposit or face an interim injunction.

The matter was listed for the first hearing yesterday, May 1. Lava said in a statement before the court that it wanted to resolve the case amicably.

The case will be next heard on May 20. Singh & Singh is representing Dolby.