A “Fraunhofer Society” refers to the overarching organization that manages a network of applied research institutes, while a “Fraunhofer Institute” is a single research unit within that network, focused on a specific area of study like materials science, healthcare, or digital technology; essentially, the Fraunhofer Society is the umbrella organization, and the Fraunhofer Institutes are the individual research centers under its governance.

They are credited with the creation of the MP3 format so maybe that’s where these supposed lawsuits are coming from?