Netflix has filed a lawsuit against Broadcom's cloud computing subsidiary VMware, accusing the company of infringing on its virtual machine patents in the United States. The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, alleges that VMware's virtual machine technology violates Netflix's patent rights. The film and television streaming service claims that VMware's technology allows companies to run another computer's operating software on a host computer, which is a key feature of Netflix's own virtual machine technology. The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction to stop VMware from further infringing on Netflix's patent rights. This is not the first time that Netflix and Broadcom have clashed over intellectual property. In 2018, Broadcom sued Netflix over alleged patent infringement related to data transmission technology. However, the exact details of the dispute are not publicly known. The lawsuit against VMware is the latest development in a broader trend of patent disputes in the tech industry, as companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Google seek to protect their intellectual property from rivals.