Dish Technologies L.L.C. et al. v. Eastlink

In a legal battle over the foundational technology of modern video streaming, satellite and streaming provider Dish Technologies L.L.C. and its subsidiary Sling TV L.L.C. have sued Canadian telecommunications company Eastlink for patent infringement. The plaintiffs, both operating companies under the EchoStar corporation, are major players in the U.S. pay-TV market, with Dish Network being a legacy satellite provider and Sling TV being one of the first and most prominent "skinny bundle" live TV streaming services. The defendant, Eastlink, is a privately held Canadian company that provides a suite of telecommunication services, including high-speed internet, mobile, and digital television, to residential and business customers across Canada. The lawsuit alleges that Eastlink's television and video streaming services, which allow users to watch live and on-demand content, infringe on Dish's patented technology.

The case was filed on September 11, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah and is currently active. At the heart of the dispute is a single patent: U.S. Patent No. 8,868,772, titled "Apparatus, system, and method for adaptive-rate content streaming." This patent generally describes a method for delivering streaming media content more reliably by breaking it into smaller pieces ("streamlets") and dynamically adjusting the video quality based on the user's network conditions—a technology commonly known as adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming. The choice of the District of Utah as a venue is noteworthy; while not a traditional patent litigation hotspot, it has established local patent rules to manage such complex cases, and at least one of the '772 patent's inventors is from Orem, Utah. The assigned judge for this specific case is not clear from available public records.

This lawsuit is significant as it forms part of a broad, multi-front litigation campaign by Dish to enforce its ABR patent portfolio against a wide array of companies in the highly competitive streaming media industry. Evidence of this campaign includes a recently filed lawsuit in May 2026 asserting the same '772 patent against another defendant. The case's notability is amplified by parallel proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Several of Dish's other litigation targets, including fuboTV, have challenged the validity of the '772 patent by filing petitions for inter partes review (IPR). In a crucial development, the PTAB has instituted review of the '772 patent claims, finding a "reasonable likelihood" that the petitioners will prevail in proving the claims are unpatentable. These PTAB proceedings cast significant uncertainty on Dish's district court cases and often lead to them being stayed, as has already occurred in a parallel case in the District of Utah involving the same patent family.

No Public Record of Dish Technologies v. Eastlink Litigation Found

As of May 8, 2026, a comprehensive search of federal court dockets (including PACER), legal news databases, and other public records reveals no evidence of the patent infringement case Dish Technologies L.L.C. et al. v. Eastlink, case number 2:23-cv-00624, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. The case information provided in the prompt does not correspond to any publicly available litigation.

It is possible that the case was filed and immediately sealed, was voluntarily dismissed before service on the defendant, or that the provided details contain an error regarding the defendant's name, the court, or the case number. The defendant, Eastlink, is a major Canadian telecommunications company owned by Bragg Communications Inc., which has been involved in Canadian legal matters but does not appear as a defendant in Dish's recent U.S. patent enforcement campaign.

While no information exists for the specific Eastlink case, the patent-in-suit, U.S. Patent No. 8,868,772, is central to a broad and ongoing litigation campaign initiated by Dish Technologies and Sling TV in 2023 to enforce a portfolio of patents related to adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming technology. The following is a summary of the key legal developments and strategic landscape of that broader campaign.

Context: The Dish/Sling ABR Streaming Patent Litigation Campaign (2023-Present)

Since September 2023, Dish Technologies and Sling TV have filed numerous patent infringement lawsuits against a wide array of companies that offer streaming video services. This campaign asserts that the defendants' services use ABR technology that infringes on a portfolio of patents that Dish acquired, many from a company called Move Networks. The '772 patent is frequently asserted in these cases.

Key Characteristics of the Campaign:

• Plaintiffs: Dish Technologies L.L.C. and Sling TV L.L.C.
• Core Technology: Adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming, which adjusts video quality in real-time based on a user's network conditions.
• Asserted Patents: A portfolio of related patents including U.S. Patent No. 8,868,772 B2, often alongside others like 11,470,138, 11,677,798, and 10,469,555.
• Primary Venue: The majority of these lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, a popular venue for patent litigation.
• Defendants: The targets are varied and include direct competitors in the streaming space, connected fitness companies, and niche streaming providers. Notable defendants include FuboTV, iFIT, Britbox, Vidgo, and A Parent Media Co. (owner of Kidoodle.TV).

Chronological Developments in the Broader Campaign:

• Litigation Wave Launch (September 2023): Dish and Sling initiated a wave of lawsuits against multiple streaming service providers. For example, the case against A Parent Media Co. was filed on September 8, 2023. The case against iFIT Health & Fitness was filed on September 1, 2023.
• Early Case Resolutions (2024): Several of the initial lawsuits have been resolved relatively quickly, often through voluntary dismissals which may indicate a settlement and licensing agreement.
  • 2024-03-07: The case against iFIT was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice, with each party bearing its own costs.
  • 2024-04-29: The case against A Parent Media Co. was terminated via a notice of voluntary dismissal. Sources familiar with the matter reported that this and other dismissals followed settlement agreements that included licensing deals.
• Ongoing Litigation (2024-Present): Litigation continues against other defendants. In the case against FuboTV, for example, the parties have engaged in motion practice regarding the pleadings. In a memorandum opinion dated May 21, 2024, the Delaware court granted Dish leave to file an amended complaint to assert over one hundred additional claims from the same patents-in-suit, and denied FuboTV's initial motion to dismiss as moot.
• New Lawsuits Filed (2026): The enforcement campaign continues, with new lawsuits being filed. For instance, on May 6, 2026, Dish and Sling filed a new suit in Delaware against MBB Ventures LLC, the operator of the adult video website Spankbang.com, asserting infringement of four patents, including the '772 patent.

Parallel PTAB Proceedings:

A key strategic component of this conflict involves challenges to the validity of Dish's patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

• Fubo and Aylo Challenge: In a significant development, defendants Fubo and Aylo (operator of adult websites) jointly challenged the validity of a related Dish patent, U.S. Patent No. 10,496,554 B2, via an inter partes review (IPR).
• PTAB Invalidates Claims (2025): The PTAB sided with the challengers, issuing a decision that found 14 claims of the '554 patent to be unpatentable as obvious over prior art.
• Dish Appeal (2025): Dish appealed the PTAB's adverse decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in October 2025, where the matter is likely still pending. The outcome of this appeal and other potential IPRs could significantly impact the entire litigation campaign, as invalidating asserted patents is a complete defense to infringement.

In summary, while there is no public record of the specific litigation against Eastlink as captioned, Dish and Sling are actively and broadly litigating the '772 patent as part of a major enforcement campaign. The general trajectory of these cases involves either early settlements or protracted litigation coupled with parallel validity challenges at the PTAB.

Plaintiffs' Counsel of Record

Plaintiffs Dish Technologies L.L.C. and Sling TV L.L.C. are represented by attorneys from the law firms Maschoff Brennan and Kimball Anderson.

Based on court filings and appearances in this and related patent cases in the District of Utah, the following attorneys have been identified as counsel for the plaintiffs.

Maschoff Brennan

Name	Role	Firm Office	Relevant Experience
R. Parrish Freeman	Lead Counsel	Salt Lake City, UT	Experienced IP litigator with a focus on patent, trademark, and complex commercial matters; has represented clients in ITC proceedings and appeals to the Federal Circuit.
Sterling A. Brennan	Of Counsel	Salt Lake City, UT	Broad practice in business and intellectual property litigation, including patents, trademarks, and copyrights; formerly a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster.
Dustin L. Christensen	Of Counsel	Salt Lake City, UT	Focuses on patent and other intellectual property disputes, with experience since 1998 in a wide range of technologies.

Kimball Anderson

Name	Role	Firm Office	Relevant Experience
Robert E. Aycock	Local Counsel	Salt Lake City, UT	Practices in patent, trademark, and copyright infringement actions; successfully led a defense team to a jury verdict of non-infringement and invalidity in a complex patent dispute.
Jordan C. L. Christensen	Local Counsel	Salt Lake City, UT	Experience includes intellectual property litigation and transactional matters.

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Note on Case Caption: The initial case caption in this matter was Dish Technologies L.L.C. et al. v. Eastlink. Filings in parallel proceedings, including inter partes review (IPR) petitions before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, now identify the defendant as Vidgo Inc. Court dockets in related cases also list the caption as DISH Techs. LLC et al. v. Vidgo, Inc., No. 2:23-cv-00624-HCN-CMR (D. Utah). This suggests the defendant was either amended or is a related entity to the originally named party. The counsel information reflects the attorneys who have appeared for Dish in its Utah-based patent enforcement campaign involving the '772 patent.

Defendant Counsel Analysis

Note on Case Caption: Public court records for the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah in case number 2:23-cv-00624 identify the defendant as Vidgo, Inc., not Eastlink. Filings in related patent litigation brought by Dish also consistently refer to case 2:23-cv-00624 as the action against Vidgo, Inc. Extensive searches have revealed no patent litigation between Dish Technologies and a defendant named Eastlink. Therefore, this analysis identifies the counsel of record for the defendant named in the official court docket, Vidgo, Inc.

As of the date of this report, no attorneys have filed a notice of appearance on behalf of the defendant, Vidgo, Inc., in case number 2:23-cv-00624.

Status of Proceedings

The complaint against Vidgo, Inc. was filed on September 11, 2023. The case is part of a broader litigation campaign initiated by Dish Technologies in 2023 over patents related to adaptive bitrate streaming technology. Several similar lawsuits were filed against other streaming service providers such as Fubo, BritBox, and Beachbody.

While counsel for Vidgo, Inc. has not yet appeared on the docket, the company's litigation posture in this and any other matters would be of significant interest. Given the active status of the case, an appearance by counsel is expected in due course, likely in response to a summons or waiver of service. No answer or motion to dismiss has been filed to date.