The patents in question cover some critical behind-the-scenes tech that helps keep virtual machines running smoothly, according to the lawsuit filed in a California federal court.

Video streaming giant Netflix Inc. is suing Broadcom Inc. over virtual machine patents owned by the company’s subsidiary VMware Inc. According to the lawsuit filed with a California federal court by Netflix Monday, the company said VMware’s cloud software infringes on five patents related to virtual machines.

Netflix (NFLX) is suing Broadcom (AVGO) claiming the company’s cloud computing subsidiary VMware violated its patent rights in ‘virtual machines’ that run another computer’s operating software on a host computer,

Netflix is suing Broadcom over patent infringement a few years after Broadcom sued Netflix for similar reasons.

Shares of Broadcom Inc. rose over 2% in premarket trading on Tuesday, even as Netflix filed a lawsuit against Broadcom’s subsidiary, VMware, alleging patent infringement. Netflix claims that VMware improperly utilized its patented technology for “virtual machines,

Netflix sues Broadcom's cloud computing subsidiary VMware for patent infringement. Broadcom had previously filed a patent dispute against Netflix in 2018.

Alleging patent infringement connected to virtual machine operations, Netflix ( NFLX, Financials) has sued Broadcom's ( AVGO, Financials) VMware. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the lawsuit focuses on allegations that VMware's vSphere program violates Netflix's technology.

Netflix has filed a lawsuit against VMware, a subsidiary of Broadcom, claiming that the company has infringed on five of its patents related to virtual machine operations. The lawsuit, submitted to a California federal court,