Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network, already in a serious carriage dispute with Hispanic service provider Univision, has increased the pressure by issuing a lawsuit alleging that Univision has infringed Dish’s streaming patents. Univison channels have been absent from Dish since last July.

The specific patents cover adaptive bit-rate streaming, which is the technology that works to reduce and minimise buffering in streaming viewing by altering speeds to accommodate various screen sizes and adjust for broadband connection quality.

Dish had acquired the patents by acquiring Move Networks for $45 million in 2011. It has an exclusive license for them with its own wholly-owned streaming service, Sling TV.

Dish said it notified Univision about alleged infringement last July, which is when stations went dark; Univision says “As we previously informed Dish, we deny that we are in violation of any of its patents. As such, we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these claims.”it notified Univision about alleged infringement last July, which is when stations went dark; Univision says “As we previously informed Dish, we deny that we are in violation of any of its patents. As such, we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these claims.”

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