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Netflix wins Dutch legal battle

US streamer Netflix has triumphed in its long-running patent infringement battle with video-on-demand software provider OpenTV in the Netherlands.

A district court in The Hague this week ruled that Netflix did not infringe OpenTV’s patent on linked media services in the Netherlands, after the latter attempted to ban the Californian firm from operating in the country.

OpenTV alleged that Netflix infringed on several of its patents including one for a service that provided direct automated access to an online information services provider.

But all the alleged infringed patent claims were found invalid by the court because they were “not inventive and not new.”

A Netflix lawyer said that US-based OpenTV, which makes software for digital TV services including programme guides and enhanced television applications, demanded a share of the company’s profits. However, it was OpenTV that was ordered to pay legal costs for Netflix of around €234,000 (US$292,000).

Open TV has not attempted to sue Netflix in the other countries that it operates in Europe, including France and Germany.

The company filed a similar suit against Netflix in December 2012 in the US. The case recently transferred to the US District Court for the Northern District of California where it is still ongoing.

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