MPEG LA

Last updated
MPEG Licensing Administration, LLC
Company type Private
Industry Licensing administration
Founded1996;29 years ago (1996)
DefunctMay 2, 2023 (2023-05-02)
Headquarters
Denver, Colorado
,
US
Key people
Larry Horn
Products Patent licenses
Website www.mpegla.com

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]

Contents

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

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

The following organizations hold one or more patents in MPEG LA's H.264/AVC patent pool.

H.264/AVC patent holders (as of December 2022) [38]
Organization [39] Active patentsExpired patentsTotal patents [38]
Panasonic Corporation 1,0544161,470
Godo Kaisha IP Bridge1,0332671,300
LG Electronics 8711301001
Dolby Laboratories 10144141428
Toshiba 59336395
Microsoft 95145240
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (including NTT Docomo)2344238
Sony 7777154
Fraunhofer Society 20816224
Google 5134139
GE Video Compression1360136
Fujitsu 9214106
Mitsubishi Electric 4456100
Tagivan II LLC82082
Samsung Electronics 174663
Maxell 54256
Philips 64147
Vidyo 41243
Ericsson 13334
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) of Korea102535
Siemens 123951
The Trustees of Columbia University in New York City 02626
Polycom 22022
Robert Bosch GmbH 02222
Apple 729
JVC Kenwood 358
Orange S.A. 13720
Sharp Corporation 505
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 145
Cisco Systems 314
ZTE Corporation 022
Cisco Technology101
Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. 011
Hewlett-Packard Company 011
Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co.516
B1 Institute of Image Technology606
Newracom, Inc.011
NEC 516
Vestel Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.101
Total (All Manufacturers)519722917488

HEVC licensors

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

The following organizations hold one or more patents in the HEVC patent pool.

HEVC patent holders (as of July 2019) [40]
Organization [41] Active patentsExpired patentsTotal patents [40]
Samsung Electronics 3,55043,554
M&K Holdings [42] 9070907
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (including NTT Docomo)8782880
JVC Kenwood Corporation6280628
Infobridge Pte. Ltd. [43] 5720572
SK Telecom (including SK Planet)3800380
KT Corp 2890289
NEC Corporation2190219
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) of Korea2080208
Canon Inc. 1800180
Tagivan II1620162
Fujitsu 1441145
Kyung Hee University 1030103
Apple 69069
Intellectual Discovery Co.67067
Maxell 60060
IBEX PT Holdings58058
Vidyo 41041
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 38038
HUMAX Holdings 32032
Kwangwoon University 24024
Siemens 13821
Korean Broadcasting System 20020
Orange S.A. 20020
BBC 19019
The Trustees of Columbia University in New York City 01616
Sejong University 13013
Korea Aerospace University 12012
Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology 10010
Sungkyunkwan University 808
Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) 707
Sky Media Tech, Inc.303
Digital Insights Inc.202
Alpha Digitech101
MIT 101
Newracom (Newratek)011
Total (All Manufacturers)8738328770

VC-1 licensors

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

The following organizations hold one or more patents in the VC-1 patent pool (as of November 26,2024). [44]

OrganizationActive patentsExpired patentsTotal patents [44]
Microsoft 64402466
Panasonic 5117122
LG Electronics 39396
Samsung Electronics 29496
Dolby Laboratories 896104
Philips 07777
Hitachi 06060
Mitsubishi Electric 05252
Sony 02828
JVC Kenwood 02525
Toshiba 02121
Fujitsu 02020
Telenor 01919
Siemens 21618
AT&T Intellectual Property 01616
Sun Patent Trust01212
Sharp Corporation 088
Orange S.A. 077
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone 044
Pantech 044
ZTE 011
Total (All Manufacturers)8911671256

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Revolutionizing Intellectual Property Rights Management". Archived from the original on 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2011-04-13.
  2. ↑ Loli, Eugen (2011-05-01), Why Our Civilization's Video Art and Culture is Threatened by the MPEG-LA, OSNews
  3. ↑ Cleanse, Nike (2007-03-12), Chinese set-top box makers, MPEG LA face off over patent fees, EE Times
  4. ↑ Ozer, Jan (2023-05-08), Via LA's Heath Hoglund Talks MPEG LA/Via Licensing Patent Pool Merger, StreamingMedia.com
  5. ↑ "MPEG LA Business Review Letter" . Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  6. ↑ "MPEG-2 Patent List" (PDF). MPEG LA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  7. ↑ "MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License Program". MPEG LA. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  8. ↑ "MPEG LA Announces Call for Patents Essential to High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)" (PDF) (Press release). Denver, CO: MPEG LA. 2012-06-26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-14. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  9. ↑ "MPEG LA's Librassay® Removes Patent Barriers to Diagnostics for Personalized Medicine" (PDF) (Press release). Denver, CO: MPEG LA. 2012-09-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  10. ↑ "MPEG LA Continues to Expand Librassay® with Addition of WARF" (PDF) (Press release). Denver, CO: MPEG LA. 2013-02-21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  11. ↑ "MPEG LA Offers HEVC Patent Portfolio License". Yahoo Finance. 2014-09-29. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
  12. ↑ "HEVC Patent Portfolio License Briefing" (PDF). MPEG LA. 2014-09-29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
  13. ↑ "MPEG LA Expands HEVC License Coverage". Yahoo Finance. 2015-03-19. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  14. ↑ "MPEG LA Introduces License for DisplayPort". Business Wire. March 5, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  15. ↑ Morris, Angela (2023-05-02), Via Licensing acquires MPEG LA in patent pool merger first, IAM
  16. ↑ Ozer, Jan (2010-03-04), Ogg, MPEG LA, and Submarine Patents, StreamingMedia.com
  17. ↑ Metz, Cade (2010-04-30), Steve Jobs: mystery patent pool to attack Ogg Theora, The Register
  18. ↑ Blankenhorn, Dana (2010-05-02), Behind the open codec FUD attack, ZDNet, archived from the original on May 5, 2010
  19. ↑ Metz, Cade (2010-05-20), Google backs open codec against patent trolls, The Register
  20. ↑ Metz, Cade (2010-05-21), Google open video codec may face patent clash, The Register
  21. ↑ Fulton, Scott M. (2010-05-21), Patent pool may be in the works for 'free' VP8 codec, Betanews
  22. ↑ Blankenhorn, Dana (2010-05-24), FUD pushing back hard against Google WebM, ZDNet, archived from the original on May 27, 2010
  23. ↑ MPEG LA Announces Call for Patents Essential to VP8 Video Codec, Denver, CO: MPEG LA, 2011-02-10, archived from the original on 2011-02-11, retrieved 2010-02-12
  24. ↑ "Google and MPEG LA Announce Agreement Covering VP8 Video Format" (PDF) (Press release). Denver, CO: MPEG LA. 2013-03-07. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  25. ↑ Holwerda, Thom (2010-05-24), Nero Files Antitrust Case Against MPEG-LA, OSNews
  26. ↑ NERO AG v. MPEG LA, L.L.C. (PDF), United States District Court for the Central District of California, 2010-11-24, retrieved 2013-06-05
  27. ↑ David Balto (2013-05-09). "Patent Pools May Create Anticompetitive Effects, New Report Finds". Business Wire. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  28. ↑ David Balto. "Barriers to Competition on the Innovation Superhighway: How the Lack of Antitrust Scrutiny of Patent Pools Deters Competition" (PDF). The Law Offices of David A. Balto PLLC. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  29. ↑ Larry Horn (2002-08-19). "Alternative approaches to IP management: One-stop technology platform licensing" (PDF). Journal of Commercial Biotechnology. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  30. ↑ "Attachment 1" (PDF). MPEG LA. 1997-06-08. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  31. ↑ Josh Lerner; Jean Tirole (2008-04-01). "Public Policy toward Patent Pools" (PDF). National Bureau of Economic Research . Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  32. ↑ "MPEG-2 License Agreement". MPEG LA. Archived from the original on 2013-11-07. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
  33. ↑ Franklin Douglas (2005-03-18). "MPEG licensing basics". EE Times . Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  34. ↑ "Patent Pools May Create Anticompetitive Effects, New Report Finds". Business Wire. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
  35. ↑ Bret Swanson (2013-04-30). "MPEG-LA Shows Need to Rebuild IP Foundations". Forbes . Retrieved 2013-05-19.
  36. ↑ Steve Forbes (2013-03-18). "America's patent system is all wrong for today's high-tech world". Fox News Channel . Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  37. 1 2 "MPEG-2 License Agreement". MPEG LA. 2013-05-13. Archived from the original on 2016-01-08. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
  38. 1 2 "AVC/H.264 – Patent List" (PDF). MPEG LA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  39. ↑ "AVC/H.264 Licensors". MPEG-LA. Archived from the original on 2015-05-30. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
  40. 1 2 "HEVC: Patent List" (PDF). MPEG LA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  41. ↑ "MPEG LA Offers HEVC Patent Portfolio License" (PDF). MPEG LA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-27. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  42. ↑ "M&K Holdings: Private Company Information". Bloomberg . Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  43. ↑ "INFOBRIDGE PTE. LTD". Singapore Business Directory. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  44. 1 2 "VC-1 Patent List". VIA-LA. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
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