The case
Tir Technologies Limited v. Netflix, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-00056 (D. Del.), was filed January 16, 2026. Tir Tech, an Irish company based in Dublin, asserts U.S. Patents 9,800,633 and 10,484,442, both titled "Just-in-Time Distributed Video Cache," and U.S. Patent 10,375,444, titled "Partial Video Pre-Fetch." The opinion says Tir Tech identifies the Netflix video streaming platform as the accused product and service, through software code for Netflix's backend services and software code in the Netflix video streaming application. Tir Tech filed an amended complaint on April 13, 2026, and Netflix moved to dismiss on May 13, 2026, arguing that the asserted patents claim ineligible subject matter and that the amended complaint fails to plausibly allege infringement. The court heard oral argument on September 9, 2026.
The ruling
The court treated claim 1 of the '633 patent as representative of the '633 and '442 patents, and claim 1 of the '444 patent as representative of that patent. At Alice step one, it concluded that the asserted claims of all three patents are directed to an abstract idea. At step two, it concluded that the amended complaint and its attachments sufficiently plead an inventive concept, and it denied the motion on eligibility.
The court also concluded that Tir Tech sufficiently pleaded direct infringement of each patent, induced infringement of the asserted patents, and willful infringement. It denied the motion to dismiss and ordered the parties to meet and confer and file a joint proposed scheduling order by December 7, 2026.