→VC-1 licensors: removed expired patents Tag: Visual edit |
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| name = MPEG Licensing Administration, LLC |
| name = MPEG Licensing Administration, LLC |
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| logo = MPEG LA logo.png |
| logo = MPEG LA logo.png |
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| logo_alt = MPEG LA logo |
| logo_alt = MPEG LA logo |
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| image = |
| image = |
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| image_size = |
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| image_alt = |
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| image_caption = |
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| type = [[Private company|Private]] |
| type = [[Private company|Private]] |
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| industry = [[License|Licensing administration]] |
| industry = [[License|Licensing administration]] |
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| founded = {{start date and age|1996}} |
| founded = {{start date and age|1996}} |
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| founder = <!-- or: | founders = --> |
| founder = <!-- or: | founders = --> |
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| defunct = {{End date|2023|05|02}} |
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| hq_location_city = [[Denver|Denver, Colorado]] |
| hq_location_city = [[Denver|Denver, Colorado]] |
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| hq_location_country = US |
| hq_location_country = US |
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| key_people = Larry Horn |
| key_people = Larry Horn |
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| products = [[License#Patent licensing|Patent licenses]] |
| products = [[License#Patent licensing|Patent licenses]] |
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| brands = |
| brands = |
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| owner = <!-- or: | owners = --> |
| owner = <!-- or: | owners = --> |
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| website = {{URL|https://www.mpegla.com/}} |
| website = {{URL|https://www.mpegla.com/}} |
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}} |
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'''MPEG LA''' |
'''MPEG LA''' was an American company based in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]] that licensed [[patent pool]]s covering [[essential patent]]s required for use of the [[MPEG-2]], [[MPEG-4]], [[IEEE 1394]], [[VC-1]], [[ATSC (standards)|ATSC]], [[Multiview Video Coding|MVC]], [[MPEG transport stream|MPEG-2]] Systems, [[H.264/MPEG-4 AVC|AVC/H.264]] and [[High Efficiency Video Coding|HEVC]] standards.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mpegla.com/main/Pages/About.aspx|title=Revolutionizing Intellectual Property Rights Management|access-date=2011-04-13}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.osnews.com/story/23299/Why_Our_Civilization_s_Video_Art_and_Culture_is_Threatened_by_the_MPEG-LA |title=Why Our Civilization's Video Art and Culture is Threatened by the MPEG-LA |first=Eugen |last=Loli |date=2011-05-01 |publisher=OSNews}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.eetimes.com/hideArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=WHQGCDCQAPPDCQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=197801379 |date=2007-03-12 |first=Nike |last=Cleanse |title=Chinese set-top box makers, MPEG LA face off over patent fees |publisher=[[EE Times]]}}</ref> |
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Via Licensing Corp acquired MPEG LA in April 2023 and formed a new patent pool administration company called [[Via-LA|Via Licensing Alliance]].<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=158547 |title=Via LA’s Heath Hoglund Talks MPEG LA/Via Licensing Patent Pool Merger |first=Jan |last=Ozer |date=2023-05-08 |publisher=StreamingMedia.com}}</ref> |
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==History== |
==History== |
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MPEG LA started operations in July 1997 immediately after receiving a [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] Business Review Letter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/public/busreview/215742.htm|title=MPEG LA Business Review Letter|access-date=2013-05-13}}</ref> During formation of the [[MPEG-2]] standard, a working group of companies that participated in the formation of the [[MPEG-2]] standard recognized that the biggest challenge to adoption was efficient access to essential patents owned by many patent owners. That ultimately led to a group of various [[MPEG-2]] patent owners to form MPEG LA, which in turn created the first modern-day [[patent pool]] as a solution. The majority of patents underlying MPEG-2 technology were owned by three companies: [[Sony]] (311 patents), [[Technicolor SA|Thomson]] (198 patents) and [[Mitsubishi Electric]] (119 patents).<ref>{{cite web |title=MPEG-2 Patent List |url=https://www.mpegla.com/wp-content/uploads/m2-att1.pdf |website=MPEG LA |access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License Program |url=https://www.mpegla.com/programs/mpeg-2/ |website=MPEG LA |access-date=29 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529164538/https://www.mpegla.com/programs/mpeg-2/ |archive-date=29 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> |
MPEG LA started operations in July 1997 immediately after receiving a [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] Business Review Letter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/public/busreview/215742.htm|title=MPEG LA Business Review Letter|access-date=2013-05-13}}</ref> During formation of the [[MPEG-2]] standard, a working group of companies that participated in the formation of the [[MPEG-2]] standard recognized that the biggest challenge to adoption was efficient access to essential patents owned by many patent owners. That ultimately led to a group of various [[MPEG-2]] patent owners to form MPEG LA, which in turn created the first modern-day [[patent pool]] as a solution. The majority of patents underlying MPEG-2 <u>technology</u> were owned by three companies: [[Sony]] (311 patents), [[Technicolor SA|Thomson]] (198 patents) and [[Mitsubishi Electric]] (119 patents).<ref>{{cite web |title=MPEG-2 Patent List |url=https://www.mpegla.com/wp-content/uploads/m2-att1.pdf |website=MPEG LA |access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License Program |url=https://www.mpegla.com/programs/mpeg-2/ |website=MPEG LA |access-date=29 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529164538/https://www.mpegla.com/programs/mpeg-2/ |archive-date=29 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In June 2012, MPEG LA announced a call for patents essential to the [[High Efficiency Video Coding|High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)]] standard.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/82/n-12-06-26.pdf |title=MPEG LA Announces Call for Patents Essential to High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) |publisher=MPEG LA |location=Denver, CO |date=2012-06-26 |access-date=2013-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514055624/http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/82/n-12-06-26.pdf |archive-date=2013-05-14 }}</ref> |
In June 2012, MPEG LA announced a call for patents essential to the [[High Efficiency Video Coding|High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)]] standard.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/82/n-12-06-26.pdf |title=MPEG LA Announces Call for Patents Essential to High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) |publisher=MPEG LA |location=Denver, CO |date=2012-06-26 |access-date=2013-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514055624/http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/82/n-12-06-26.pdf |archive-date=2013-05-14 }}</ref> |
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On September 29, 2014, the MPEG LA announced their HEVC license which covers the patents from 23 companies.<ref name=MPEGLAHEVCSeptember2014Yahoo>{{cite news |title=MPEG LA Offers HEVC Patent Portfolio License |publisher=Yahoo Finance |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mpeg-la-offers-hevc-patent-182200249.html |date=2014-09-29 |access-date=2014-09-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006113009/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mpeg-la-offers-hevc-patent-182200249.html |archive-date=2014-10-06 }}</ref> The license is US$0.20 per HEVC product after the first 100,000 units each year with an annual cap.<ref name=MPEGLAHEVCLicensePDFSeptember2014>{{cite news |title=HEVC Patent Portfolio License Briefing |publisher=MPEG LA |url=http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/HEVC/Documents/HEVCweb.pdf |date=2014-09-29 |access-date=2014-09-29 |archive-date=2014-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006091331/http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/HEVC/Documents/HEVCweb.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The license has been expanded to include the profiles in version 2 of the HEVC standard.<ref name=MPEGLAV2HEVCMarch2015Yahoo>{{cite news |title=MPEG LA Expands HEVC License Coverage |publisher=Yahoo Finance |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mpeg-la-expands-hevc-license-153700468.html |date=2015-03-19 |access-date=2015-03-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104550/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mpeg-la-expands-hevc-license-153700468.html |archive-date=2015-04-02 }}</ref> |
On September 29, 2014, the MPEG LA announced their HEVC license which covers the patents from 23 companies.<ref name=MPEGLAHEVCSeptember2014Yahoo>{{cite news |title=MPEG LA Offers HEVC Patent Portfolio License |publisher=Yahoo Finance |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mpeg-la-offers-hevc-patent-182200249.html |date=2014-09-29 |access-date=2014-09-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006113009/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mpeg-la-offers-hevc-patent-182200249.html |archive-date=2014-10-06 }}</ref> The license is US$0.20 per HEVC product after the first 100,000 units each year with an annual cap.<ref name=MPEGLAHEVCLicensePDFSeptember2014>{{cite news |title=HEVC Patent Portfolio License Briefing |publisher=MPEG LA |url=http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/HEVC/Documents/HEVCweb.pdf |date=2014-09-29 |access-date=2014-09-29 |archive-date=2014-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006091331/http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/HEVC/Documents/HEVCweb.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The license has been expanded to include the profiles in version 2 of the HEVC standard.<ref name=MPEGLAV2HEVCMarch2015Yahoo>{{cite news |title=MPEG LA Expands HEVC License Coverage |publisher=Yahoo Finance |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mpeg-la-expands-hevc-license-153700468.html |date=2015-03-19 |access-date=2015-03-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104550/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mpeg-la-expands-hevc-license-153700468.html |archive-date=2015-04-02 }}</ref> |
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On March 5, 2015, the MPEG LA announced their [[DisplayPort]] license which is US$0.20 per DisplayPort product.<ref name=DisplayPortMPEGLicenseMarch2015>{{cite news |title=MPEG LA Introduces License for DisplayPort |publisher=[[Business Wire]] |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150305006071/en/MPEG-LA-Introduces-License-DisplayPort |date=March 5, 2015 |access-date=March 5, 2015}}</ref> |
On March 5, 2015, the MPEG LA announced their [[DisplayPort]] license which is US$0.20 per DisplayPort product.<ref name=DisplayPortMPEGLicenseMarch2015>{{cite news |title=MPEG LA Introduces License for DisplayPort |publisher=[[Business Wire]] |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150305006071/en/MPEG-LA-Introduces-License-DisplayPort |date=March 5, 2015 |access-date=March 5, 2015 }}</ref> |
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In April 2023, in what is thought to be the first time that two pool administrators have merged into one, Via Licensing Corp acquired MPEG LA and formed a new patent pool administrator called [[Via-LA|Via Licensing Alliance]]. Via President Heath Hoglund will serve as president of the new company. MPEG LA CEO Larry Horn will serve as a Via LA advisor.<ref>{{citation |url= https://www.iam-media.com/article/licensing-acquires-mpeg-la |title=Via Licensing acquires MPEG LA in patent pool merger first |first=Angela |last=Morris |date=2023-05-02 |publisher=IAM}}</ref> |
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==Criticism== |
==Criticism== |
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David Balto, who is a former policy director at the [[Federal Trade Commission]], has used the MPEG-2 patent pool as an example of why patent pools need more scrutiny so that they do not suppress innovation.<ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolCompetitionMay2013BusinessWire>{{cite news |title=Patent Pools May Create Anticompetitive Effects, New Report Finds |author=David Balto |publisher=Business Wire |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130509005972/en/Patent-Pools-Create-Anticompetitive-Effects-Report-Finds |date=2013-05-09 |access-date=2013-07-03}}</ref><ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolCompetitionMay2013LawOffices>{{cite news |title=Barriers to Competition on the Innovation Superhighway: How the Lack of Antitrust Scrutiny of Patent Pools Deters Competition |author=David Balto |publisher=The Law Offices of David A. Balto PLLC |url=http://dcantitrustlaw.com/patent%20pools%20-5%209%20pdf.pdf |access-date=2013-07-03}}</ref> |
David Balto, who is a former policy director at the [[Federal Trade Commission]], has used the MPEG-2 patent pool as an example of why patent pools need more scrutiny so that they do not suppress innovation.<ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolCompetitionMay2013BusinessWire>{{cite news |title=Patent Pools May Create Anticompetitive Effects, New Report Finds |author=David Balto |publisher=Business Wire |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130509005972/en/Patent-Pools-Create-Anticompetitive-Effects-Report-Finds |date=2013-05-09 |access-date=2013-07-03}}</ref><ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolCompetitionMay2013LawOffices>{{cite news |title=Barriers to Competition on the Innovation Superhighway: How the Lack of Antitrust Scrutiny of Patent Pools Deters Competition |author=David Balto |publisher=The Law Offices of David A. Balto PLLC |url=http://dcantitrustlaw.com/patent%20pools%20-5%209%20pdf.pdf |access-date=2013-07-03}}</ref> |
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The MPEG-2 patent pool began with 100 patents in 1997 and since then additional patents were added.<ref name=MPEG2IPManagement>{{cite news |title=Alternative approaches to IP management: One-stop technology platform licensing |author=Larry Horn |publisher= |
The MPEG-2 patent pool began with 100 patents in 1997 and since then additional patents were added.<ref name=MPEG2IPManagement>{{cite news |title=Alternative approaches to IP management: One-stop technology platform licensing |author=Larry Horn |publisher=Journal of Commercial Biotechnology |url=http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jcb/journal/v9/n2/pdf/3040017a.pdf |date=2002-08-19 |access-date=2013-06-23}}</ref><ref name=MPEG2PatentList1997>{{cite news |title=Attachment 1 |publisher=MPEG LA |url=http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/M2/Documents/m2-att1-July8-1997.pdf |date=1997-06-08 |access-date=2013-06-23}}</ref> The MPEG-2 license agreement states that if possible the license fee will not increase when new patents are added.<ref name=MPEG2PublicPolicyPatentPools>{{cite news |title=Public Policy toward Patent Pools |author1=Josh Lerner |author2=Jean Tirole |publisher=[[National Bureau of Economic Research]] |url=https://www.nber.org/chapters/c5304.pdf |date=2008-04-01 |access-date=2013-06-23}}</ref> The MPEG-2 license agreement stated that MPEG-2 royalties must be paid when there is one or more active patents in either the country of manufacture or the country of sale.<ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolFullLicense>{{cite news |title=MPEG-2 License Agreement |publisher=MPEG LA |url=http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/M2/Pages/License.aspx |access-date=2013-06-26}}</ref> The original MPEG-2 license rate was US$4 for a decoding license, US$4 for an encoding license and US$6.00 for encode-decode consumer product.<ref name=MPEG2LicensingBasicsEETimes>{{cite news |title=MPEG licensing basics |author=Franklin Douglas |publisher=[[EE Times]] |url=http://www.eetimes.com/design/other/4012977/MPEG-licensing-basics?pageNumber=3 |date=2005-03-18 |access-date=2013-06-23}}</ref> |
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A criticism of the [[MPEG-2#Patent pool|MPEG-2 patent pool]] is that even though the number of patents decreased from 1,048 to 416 by June 2013 the license fee did not decrease with the expiration rate of MPEG-2 patents.<ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolMay2013Business>{{cite news |title=Patent Pools May Create Anticompetitive Effects, New Report Finds |publisher=[[Business Wire]] |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130509005972/en/Patent-Pools-Create-Anticompetitive-Effects-Report-Finds |date=2013-05-09 |access-date=2013-06-06}}</ref><ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolJanuary2013Forbes>{{cite news |title=MPEG-LA Shows Need to Rebuild IP Foundations |author=Bret Swanson |work=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bretswanson/2013/04/30/mpeg-la-shows-need-to-rebuild-ip-foundations/ |date=2013-04-30 |access-date=2013-05-19}}</ref><ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolJanuary2013FoxNews>{{cite news |title=America's patent system is all wrong for today's high-tech world |author=Steve Forbes |publisher=[[Fox News Channel]] |url=http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/03/18/america-patent-system-is-all-wrong-for-todays-high-tech-world/|date=2013-03-18 |access-date=2013-06-05}}</ref> |
A criticism of the [[MPEG-2#Patent pool|MPEG-2 patent pool]] is that even though the number of patents decreased from 1,048 to 416 by June 2013 the license fee did not decrease with the expiration rate of MPEG-2 patents.<ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolMay2013Business>{{cite news |title=Patent Pools May Create Anticompetitive Effects, New Report Finds |publisher=[[Business Wire]] |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130509005972/en/Patent-Pools-Create-Anticompetitive-Effects-Report-Finds |date=2013-05-09 |access-date=2013-06-06}}</ref><ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolJanuary2013Forbes>{{cite news |title=MPEG-LA Shows Need to Rebuild IP Foundations |author=Bret Swanson |work=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bretswanson/2013/04/30/mpeg-la-shows-need-to-rebuild-ip-foundations/ |date=2013-04-30 |access-date=2013-05-19}}</ref><ref name=MPEG2PatentPoolJanuary2013FoxNews>{{cite news |title=America's patent system is all wrong for today's high-tech world |author=Steve Forbes |publisher=[[Fox News Channel]] |url=http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/03/18/america-patent-system-is-all-wrong-for-todays-high-tech-world/|date=2013-03-18 |access-date=2013-06-05}}</ref> |
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== VC-1 licensors == |
== VC-1 licensors == |
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{{Dynamic list}} |
{{Dynamic list}} |
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The following organizations hold one or more patents in the [[VC-1]] patent pool ({{as of| |
The following organizations hold one or more patents in the [[VC-1]] patent pool ({{as of|2023|10|8|lc=on|df=US}}).<ref name=VC1PatentPool2013>{{cite news |title=VC-1 Licensors |publisher=MPEG-LA |url=http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/Vc1/Pages/Licensors.aspx |access-date=2013-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206045754/http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/VC1/Pages/Licensors.aspx |archive-date=2012-02-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=VC1Att/> |
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<section begin="VC-1 patents"/> |
<section begin="VC-1 patents"/> |
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{| class="wikitable sortable" |
{| class="wikitable sortable" |
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|- |
|- |
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|[[Microsoft]] |
|[[Microsoft]] |
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| |
|262 |
||
| |
|204 |
||
| |
|466 |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Panasonic]] |
|[[Panasonic]] |
||
| |
|5 |
||
| |
|117 |
||
|122 |
|122 |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[LG Electronics]] |
|[[LG Electronics]] |
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|11 |
|11 |
||
| |
|85 |
||
| |
|96 |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Samsung Electronics]] |
|[[Samsung Electronics]] |
||
| |
|4 |
||
| |
|92 |
||
|96 |
|96 |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Dolby Laboratories]] |
|[[Dolby Laboratories]] |
||
| |
|9 |
||
| |
|95 |
||
| |
|104 |
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|- |
|- |
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|[[Philips]] |
|[[Philips]] |
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|- |
|- |
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|[[Mitsubishi Electric]] |
|[[Mitsubishi Electric]] |
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| |
|0 |
||
| |
|52 |
||
|52 |
|52 |
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|- |
|- |
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|- |
|- |
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|'''Total (All Manufacturers)''' |
|'''Total (All Manufacturers)''' |
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| |
|293 |
||
| |
|963 |
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|''' |
|'''1256''' |
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|} <section end="VC-1 patents"/> |
|} <section end="VC-1 patents"/> |
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Latest revision as of 10:54, 1 February 2024
MPEG LA was an American company based in Denver, Colorado that licensed patent pools covering essential patents required for use of the MPEG-2, MPEG-4, IEEE 1394, VC-1, ATSC, MVC, MPEG-2 Systems, AVC/H.264 and HEVC standards.[1][2][3]
Via Licensing Corp acquired MPEG LA in April 2023 and formed a new patent pool administration company called Via Licensing Alliance.[4]
History
MPEG LA started operations in July 1997 immediately after receiving a Department of Justice Business Review Letter.[5] During formation of the MPEG-2 standard, a working group of companies that participated in the formation of the MPEG-2 standard recognized that the biggest challenge to adoption was efficient access to essential patents owned by many patent owners. That ultimately led to a group of various MPEG-2 patent owners to form MPEG LA, which in turn created the first modern-day patent pool as a solution. The majority of patents underlying MPEG-2 technology were owned by three companies: Sony (311 patents), Thomson (198 patents) and Mitsubishi Electric (119 patents).[6][7]
In June 2012, MPEG LA announced a call for patents essential to the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard.[8]
In September 2012, MPEG LA launched Librassay, which makes diagnostic patent rights from some of the world's leading research institutions available to everyone through a single license. Organizations which have included patents in Librassay include Johns Hopkins University; Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; National Institutes of Health (NIH); Partners HealthCare; The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University; The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania; The University of California, San Francisco; and Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).[9][10]
On September 29, 2014, the MPEG LA announced their HEVC license which covers the patents from 23 companies.[11] The license is US$0.20 per HEVC product after the first 100,000 units each year with an annual cap.[12] The license has been expanded to include the profiles in version 2 of the HEVC standard.[13]
On March 5, 2015, the MPEG LA announced their DisplayPort license which is US$0.20 per DisplayPort product.[14]
In April 2023, in what is thought to be the first time that two pool administrators have merged into one, Via Licensing Corp acquired MPEG LA and formed a new patent pool administrator called Via Licensing Alliance. Via President Heath Hoglund will serve as president of the new company. MPEG LA CEO Larry Horn will serve as a Via LA advisor.[15]
Criticism
MPEG LA has claimed that video codecs such as Theora[16][17][18] and VP8[19][20][21] infringe on patents owned by its licensors, without disclosing the affected patent or patents.[22] They then called out for “any party that believes it has patents that are essential to the VP8 video codec”.[23] In April 2013, Google and MPEG LA announced an agreement covering the VP8 video format.[24]
In May 2010, Nero AG filed an antitrust suit against MPEG LA, claiming it "unlawfully extended its patent pools by adding non-essential patents to the MPEG-2 patent pool" and has been inconsistent in charging royalty fees.[25] The United States District Court for the Central District of California dismissed the suit with prejudice on November 29, 2010.[26]
David Balto, who is a former policy director at the Federal Trade Commission, has used the MPEG-2 patent pool as an example of why patent pools need more scrutiny so that they do not suppress innovation.[27][28]
The MPEG-2 patent pool began with 100 patents in 1997 and since then additional patents were added.[29][30] The MPEG-2 license agreement states that if possible the license fee will not increase when new patents are added.[31] The MPEG-2 license agreement stated that MPEG-2 royalties must be paid when there is one or more active patents in either the country of manufacture or the country of sale.[32] The original MPEG-2 license rate was US$4 for a decoding license, US$4 for an encoding license and US$6.00 for encode-decode consumer product.[33]
A criticism of the MPEG-2 patent pool is that even though the number of patents decreased from 1,048 to 416 by June 2013 the license fee did not decrease with the expiration rate of MPEG-2 patents.[34][35][36] For products from January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2009 royalties were US$2.50 for a decoding license, US$2.50 for an encoding license and US$2.50 for encode-decode consumer product license.[37] Since January 1, 2010, MPEG-2 patent pool royalties were US$2.00 for a decoding license, US$2.00 for an encoding license and US$2.00 for encode-decode consumer product.[37]
H.264/MPEG-4 AVC licensors
The following organizations hold one or more patents in MPEG LA's H.264/AVC patent pool.
Organization[39] | Active patents | Expired patents | Total patents[38] |
---|---|---|---|
Panasonic Corporation | 1,054 | 416 | 1,470 |
Godo Kaisha IP Bridge | 1,033 | 267 | 1,300 |
LG Electronics | 871 | 130 | 1001 |
Dolby Laboratories | 1014 | 414 | 1428 |
Toshiba | 59 | 336 | 395 |
Microsoft | 95 | 145 | 240 |
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (including NTT Docomo) | 234 | 4 | 238 |
Sony | 77 | 77 | 154 |
Fraunhofer Society | 208 | 16 | 224 |
5 | 134 | 139 | |
GE Video Compression | 136 | 0 | 136 |
Fujitsu | 92 | 14 | 106 |
Mitsubishi Electric | 44 | 56 | 100 |
Tagivan II LLC | 82 | 0 | 82 |
Samsung Electronics | 17 | 46 | 63 |
Maxell | 54 | 2 | 56 |
Philips | 6 | 41 | 47 |
Vidyo | 41 | 2 | 43 |
Ericsson | 1 | 33 | 34 |
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) of Korea | 10 | 25 | 35 |
Siemens | 12 | 39 | 51 |
The Trustees of Columbia University in New York City | 0 | 26 | 26 |
Polycom | 2 | 20 | 22 |
Robert Bosch GmbH | 0 | 22 | 22 |
Apple | 7 | 2 | 9 |
JVC Kenwood | 3 | 5 | 8 |
Orange S.A. | 13 | 7 | 20 |
Sharp Corporation | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Cisco Systems | 3 | 1 | 4 |
ZTE Corporation | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Cisco Technology | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Hewlett-Packard Company | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co. | 5 | 1 | 6 |
B1 Institute of Image Technology | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Newracom, Inc. | 0 | 1 | 1 |
NEC | 5 | 1 | 6 |
Vestel Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Total (All Manufacturers) | 5197 | 2291 | 7488 |
HEVC licensors
The following organizations hold one or more patents in the HEVC patent pool.
Organization[41] | Active patents | Expired patents | Total patents[40] |
---|---|---|---|
Samsung Electronics | 3,550 | 4 | 3,554 |
M&K Holdings[42] | 907 | 0 | 907 |
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (including NTT Docomo) | 878 | 2 | 880 |
JVC Kenwood Corporation | 628 | 0 | 628 |
Infobridge Pte. Ltd.[43] | 572 | 0 | 572 |
SK Telecom (including SK Planet) | 380 | 0 | 380 |
KT Corp | 289 | 0 | 289 |
NEC Corporation | 219 | 0 | 219 |
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) of Korea | 208 | 0 | 208 |
Canon Inc. | 180 | 0 | 180 |
Tagivan II | 162 | 0 | 162 |
Fujitsu | 144 | 1 | 145 |
Kyung Hee University | 103 | 0 | 103 |
Apple | 69 | 0 | 69 |
Intellectual Discovery Co. | 67 | 0 | 67 |
Maxell | 60 | 0 | 60 |
IBEX PT Holdings | 58 | 0 | 58 |
Vidyo | 41 | 0 | 41 |
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | 38 | 0 | 38 |
HUMAX Holdings | 32 | 0 | 32 |
Kwangwoon University | 24 | 0 | 24 |
Siemens | 13 | 8 | 21 |
Korean Broadcasting System | 20 | 0 | 20 |
Orange S.A. | 20 | 0 | 20 |
BBC | 19 | 0 | 19 |
The Trustees of Columbia University in New York City | 0 | 16 | 16 |
Sejong University | 13 | 0 | 13 |
Korea Aerospace University | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Sungkyunkwan University | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Sky Media Tech, Inc. | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Digital Insights Inc. | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Alpha Digitech | 1 | 0 | 1 |
MIT | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Newracom (Newratek) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Total (All Manufacturers) | 8738 | 32 | 8770 |
VC-1 licensors
The following organizations hold one or more patents in the VC-1 patent pool (as of October 8, 2023).[44][45]
Organization | Active patents | Expired patents | Total patents[45] |
---|---|---|---|
Microsoft | 262 | 204 | 466 |
Panasonic | 5 | 117 | 122 |
LG Electronics | 11 | 85 | 96 |
Samsung Electronics | 4 | 92 | 96 |
Dolby Laboratories | 9 | 95 | 104 |
Philips | 0 | 77 | 77 |
Hitachi | 0 | 60 | 60 |
Mitsubishi Electric | 0 | 52 | 52 |
Sony | 0 | 28 | 28 |
JVC Kenwood | 0 | 25 | 25 |
Toshiba | 0 | 21 | 21 |
Fujitsu | 0 | 20 | 20 |
Telenor | 0 | 19 | 19 |
Siemens | 2 | 16 | 18 |
AT&T Intellectual Property | 0 | 16 | 16 |
Sun Patent Trust | 0 | 12 | 12 |
Sharp Corporation | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Orange S.A. | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Pantech | 0 | 4 | 4 |
ZTE | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Total (All Manufacturers) | 293 | 963 | 1256 |
See also
References
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