NL Giken Inc.

NL Giken Inc. is a Japan-based company that has engaged in patent assertion in the United States. Public records do not provide information on its specific headquarters, year founded, employee count, or revenue. The company is associated with founder Masahide Tanaka. It does not appear to be a publicly traded entity.

NL Giken is a non-practicing entity (NPE) that holds and asserts patents related to video streaming technology. It does not appear to manufacture products or offer services. Its patent portfolio, associated with inventor Masahide Tanaka, includes inventions related to how devices receive, store, and play streaming video content. In April 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a request for an ex parte reexamination of one of its patents, U.S. Patent 10,880,592, after a challenge from Unified Patents.

The company's litigation posture is that of a patent asserter. Based on the provided data, NL Giken has acted as a plaintiff in district court and as a defendant (patent owner) in a subsequent validity challenge at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). In January 2024, NL Giken filed a patent infringement suit against VIZIO, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. In response to litigation, Twitch Interactive, Inc. (an Amazon subsidiary) filed a petition for an inter partes review at the PTAB in late 2024, challenging the validity of an asserted patent.

In addition to the tracked cases, NL Giken has sued other major technology companies. In January 2024, it filed separate infringement lawsuits in the District of Delaware against Apple Inc., alleging infringement of eight patents, and against Amazon.com, Inc. Previous lawsuits against Apple and Amazon were resolved before the current litigation campaign. The patents asserted in these cases generally relate to features for navigating and playing digital video content, such as finding the next episode in a series.