Rio court blocks SEP forum shopping in HEVC patent fight
Brazilian courts, specifically the 6th Business Trial Court of Rio de Janeiro, affirmed its jurisdiction in a Standard Essential Patent (SEP) dispute involving HEVC technology between JVCKenwood and implementers Hisense and Multilaser. This ruling pushed back against alleged 'forum shopping' tactics by the implementers, upholding good faith in procedural rules and emphasizing expert analysis in infringement determinations. A preliminary injunction was granted to JVC, and Hisense eventually joined Access Advance's HEVC Advance Patent Pool following a global settlement.
Key Takeaways
- Hisense and Multilaser filed a sealed declaratory judgment of non-infringement in São Paulo on August 18, 2025.
- JVCKenwood filed its infringement suit in Rio de Janeiro less than a month later, seeking a preliminary injunction over HEVC/H.265 technology.
- Judge Victor Agustin Torres ruled on October 15, 2025, that the Rio court should keep the case and not decline jurisdiction.
- The court-appointed expert, David Moura, concluded that the H.265/HEVC standard incorporates all elements of Claim 1 in Brazilian Patent BR 112014023933-9.
- On December 19, 2025, the court granted JVC a preliminary injunction and imposed a 5% bad-faith litigation fine on Hisense and Multilaser.
Why It Matters
The immediate effect is that Rio de Janeiro remains the forum for this HEVC SEP dispute, and the court has already paired that with a preliminary injunction and a bad-faith litigation fine. That gives patent owners a clearer path to enforcement when the accused conduct occurs in Rio, instead of letting an earlier sealed declaratory case control venue. The broader signal is that Brazilian courts are willing to treat forum shopping tactics as procedural abuse, especially in SEP cases built around broad non-infringement filings. Watch for how often Rio’s Business Courts cite court-appointed experts and whether the 5% fine becomes a reference point in later SEP disputes.
Read full article at lickslegal.com