[M4IF Technotes] RE: [M4IF News] Press Release Licensing Additional Visual Profile
s
Rob Koenen
rkoenen intertrust.com
Wed Nov 14 21:46:46 EST 2001
Manish,
It is extremely important that people on this list understand the
respective responsibilities of the various parties involved.
The following announcement has nothing to do with MPEG, nor with ISO.
Dealing with patents and licenses is also out of M4IF's mandate and
charter. Hence, it does not imply anything with respect to conformance
bitstreams - these belong to the conformance part of the standard. I
assume there is someone on this list that knows about the state of
FGS and AS conformance streams, so please let them speak up.
> - Suppose one buys any particular version of the standard, let us say
> MPEG-4 Visual Version 2. Then it is upgraded to include FGS etc, then
> one has to again pay ~250 CHF to get that extension ? Shouldn't there
> be an upgrade only pricing ?
Only ISO can talk about ISO pricing policy, not M4IF. Please direct this
question at sales iso.ch
I can voice my opinions about what should and should not be the pricing
of updates, but in this case my opinion doesn't matter much. As far as I
am concerned all MPEG standards could be free, but that would be a
significant blow to the infrastructure that publishes the standards. 250
CHF (150 USD) is not much for all the work that went into that spec.
Kind Regards,
Rob Koenen
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Manish Singhal [mailto:manish.singhal ittiam.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2023 20:27
> To: Rob Koenen
> Cc: technotes lists.m4if.org
> Subject: RE: [M4IF News] Press Release Licensing Additional Visual
> Profiles
>
>
>
> Rob
>
> Couple of questions:
> - Suppose one buys any particular version of the standard, let us say
> MPEG-4 Visual Version 2. Then it is upgraded to include FGS etc, then
> one has to again pay ~250 CHF to get that extension ? Shouldn't there
> be an upgrade only pricing ?
>
> - Does the following announcement mean that the standard as
> well as the
> conformance bitstreams are available to be purchased ?
>
> Rgds
> Manish Singhal
> Manager, Video & Imaging
> Ittiam Systems
> Bangalore, India.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Rob Koenen [mailto:rkoenen intertrust.com]
> > Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2023 5:44 AM
> > To: M4IF news (E-mail); M4IF Patent WGs (E-mail); Open DTV (E-mail);
> > MPEG General (E-mail)
> > Cc: Larry Horn (E-mail); Kenneth Rubenstein (E-mail)
> > Subject: [M4IF News] Press Release Licensing Additional
> > Visual Profiles
> >
> >
> > People,
> >
> > The following release marks the start of a process that will
> > enable joint licensing of essential patents in 3 more MPEG-4
> > Visual Profiles:
> > * Simple Scalable
> > * Advanced Simple
> > * Fine Granular Scalability (FGS)
> >
> > This is in addition to the following Profiles, for which
> licensing is
> > slated to start in 2 months:
> > * Simple
> > * Core
> >
> > - Advanced Simple, a superset of Simple, has the latest coding
> > effiency tools in MPEG-4, and supports rectangular video objects.
> > - Simple Scalable and FGS are scalable extensions of Simple
> > (Simple is the base layer).
> > FGS can also be used with Advanced Simple as a base layer.
> > - Core is a superset of Simple, adding B frames ('B-VOPs') and
> > arbitrary-shape objects.
> >
> > This is an important milestone towards further deployment of MPEG-4
> > technology.
> >
> > Kind Regards,
> >
> >
> > Rob Koenen (President M4IF)
> > (I apologize for duplicate mails through multiiple reflectors)
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------------
> > -
> > For Immediate Release
> >
> > CONTACT:
> > Lawrence Horn, MPEG LA, LLC
> > 301.986.6660
> > 301.986.8575 Fax
> > lhorn mpegla.com
> >
> >
> >
> > MPEG LA® Announces M4IF Plan for Joint Licensing of Essential
> > MPEG-4 Patents
> >
> > (Denver, Colorado, US-14 November 2001) - The MPEG-4 Industry
> > Forum (M4IF)
> > has recommended that MPEG LA, LLC make the following
> > worldwide announcement:
> >
> > In furtherance of its plan aimed at providing fair, reasonable,
> > nondiscriminatory worldwide access under one license to
> > patents that are
> > essential for implementing the international MPEG-4 Visual
> > Standard, the
> > MPEG-4 Industry Forum (M4IF) has recommended that MPEG LA,
> > LLC, in its role
> > as Evaluation Administrator, call for the submission of patents for
> > evaluation of their essentiality to additional MPEG-4
> Visual Standard
> > profiles, specifically Simple Scalable, Advanced Simple, and Fine
> > Granularity Scalable.
> >
> > The Simple Scalable profile is generally described in ISO/IEC
> > 14496-2:1999/AMD.1:2000(E) Tables 9-1 and 9-2 (pages 322 and
> > 324). The
> > Advanced Simple and Fine Granularity Scalable profiles are generally
> > described in ISO/IEC 14496-2:2001/AMD.2(E) Tables AMD2-13 and
> > AMD2-14. These
> > latter tables can be found in the ISO document N3904, also
> > styled "ISO/IEC
> > 14496-1:2001/FDAM2" (pages 32-33).
> > Following is a summary of the approved plan:
> >
> > 1. Objective
> >
> > To establish a portfolio of essential worldwide patents that
> > are necessary
> > for implementation of the MPEG-4 Visual (Simple Scalable,
> > Advanced Simple,
> > and Fine Grain Scalability) standard in order to provide all
> > MPEG-4 Visual
> > users with fair, reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to this
> > technology
> > under one license.
> >
> > 2. Licensed patents
> >
> > Essential patents will consist of those that are necessary
> > for the Simple
> > Scalable (ISO/IEC 14496-2:1999/AMD.1:2000(E) Tables 9-1 and
> > 9-2 [pages 322
> > and 324]), Advanced Simple and Fine Granularity Scalable (ISO/IEC
> > 14496-2:2001/AMD.2(E) Tables AMD2-13 and AMD2-14, which can
> > be found in the
> > ISO document N3904, also styled "ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001/FDAM2"
> > [pages 32-33])
> > profiles of the MPEG-4 Visual Standard.
> >
> > 3. Organization
> >
> > The joint patent portfolio license may require at least three
> > functions:
> >
> > First, an Administrative Committee consisting of
> > representatives of the
> > essential patent owners will meet to consider licensing terms
> > and conditions
> > and monitor certain activities of a Licensing Administrator.
> >
> > Second, the Licensing Administrator, who is granted non-exclusive
> > sublicensing rights from patent owners under licensed
> > patents, actively
> > promotes the licensing program and distributes collected
> > royalties to the
> > patent owners. The Licensing Administrator will be chosen by
> > the initial
> > group of patent holders comprising the Administrative Committee.
> >
> > Third, an Evaluator who is a neutral, third party patent expert will
> > evaluate patents for essentiality to the Simple Scalable (ISO/IEC
> > 14496-2:1999/AMD.1:2000(E) Tables 9-1 and 9-2 [pages 322 and
> > 324]), Advanced
> > Simple and Fine Granularity Scalable (ISO/IEC
> > 14496-2:2001/AMD.2(E) Tables
> > AMD2-13 and AMD2-14, which can be found in the ISO document
> > N3904, also
> > styled "ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001/FDAM2" [pages 32-33]) profiles
> > of the MPEG-4
> > Visual Standard. Any party that believes it has essential
> patents is
> > invited to submit them for evaluation and inclusion. For
> each patent
> > submitted, an evaluation fee of US $8,500.00 will be paid to
> > MPEG LA, LLC
> > (as below) to cover costs of the patent expert's evaluation.
> >
> > Members of the Administrative Committee will be determined by
> > the results of
> > the patent essentiality evaluation.
> >
> > 4. Licensing details
> >
> > To be determined by the Administrative Committee consisting of
> > representatives of the essential patent owners.
> > 5. Extension of the scope of the licensed patents
> >
> > On M4IF's recommendation and request, MPEG LA® earlier
> called for the
> > submission of patents for an evaluation of their essentiality to the
> > normative part of the Simple and Core profiles of the MPEG-4
> > Visual Standard
> > by an independent patent expert, and is currently
> > facilitating the efforts
> > of essential patent owners to develop a joint license
> providing fair,
> > reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to their essential intellectual
> > property.
> >
> > 6. Schedule (Initial Plan)
> >
> > Initial patent submissions: by March 1, 2024 (although
> > patent submissions
> > may continue to be submitted after that date, owners of
> > essential patents in
> > the initial group of patents submitted by the March 1 date
> > will form the
> > initial group of Licensors and Administrative Committee that
> > will select a
> > Licensing Administrator and determine the terms of license).
> >
> > Evaluation: March - June 2002
> >
> > Upon the above consensus, M4IF recommended that MPEG LA® make
> > this worldwide
> > announcement.
> >
> > Accordingly, MPEG LA® hereby announces that any company which
> > believes it
> > has patents that are essential to the Simple Scalable,
> > Advanced Simple and
> > Fine Granularity Scalable profiles of the MPEG-4 Visual Standard (as
> > described above) and wishes to join the patent pool upon successful
> > evaluation is invited to submit such patents to the Evaluator
> > (identified
> > below) by March 1, 2002, together with a statement confirming
> > its agreement
> > with the objectives and intention to abide by terms and
> > procedures governing
> > the patent submission process. Terms and procedures governing patent
> > submissions may be obtained from Lawrence A. Horn, Vice
> > President, Licensing
> > and Business Development, MPEG LA, LLC (lhorn mpegla.com, phone
> > 1-301-986-6660, fax 1-301-986-8575).
> >
> > Evaluator:
> >
> > Dr. Kenneth Rubenstein
> > PROSKAUER ROSE LLP
> > 1585 Broadway
> > New York, NY10036-8299
> > Tel. 212-969-3000
> > Fax. 212-969-2900
> > krubenstein proskauer.com <mailto:krubenstein proskauer.com>
> >
> > # # #
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Overview of the MPEG-4 Standard
> >
> > MPEG-4 is an ISO/IEC multi-media representation standard
> > developed by its
> > Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). MPEG also developed
> > MPEG-1, which
> > makes possible interactive video on CD-ROM and is present on
> > virtually every
> > personal computer, and MPEG-2, the core compression
> > technology underlying
> > the efficient transmission, storage and display of digitized
> > moving images
> > and sound tracks on which high definition television (HDTV),
> > Digital Video
> > Broadcasting (DVB), direct broadcast by satellite (DBS),
> digital cable
> > television systems, multichannel-multipoint distribution
> > services (MMDS),
> > personal computer video, digital versatile discs (DVD),
> > interactive media
> > and other forms of digital video delivery, storage, transport
> > and display
> > are based.
> >
> > MPEG-4 is the result of yet another international effort
> > involving hundreds
> > of researchers and engineers from all over the world.
> Building on the
> > successes of MPEG's earlier standards, MPEG-4 enables
> > integration of the
> > production, distribution and content access features of
> > digital television,
> > interactive graphics applications and interactive multimedia
> > across internet
> > protocol, wireless, low bitrate, broadcast, satellite, cable
> > and mobile
> > environments. With MPEG-4, all content elements can be
> maintained as
> > discrete objects enabling richer interactivity and use across
> > many different
> > devices More information about MPEG-4 can be found at
> > MPEG's home page
> > <http://mpeg.telecomitalialab.com> and at the home page of
> the MPEG-4
> > Industry Forum <http://www.m4if.org/>.
> >
> > MPEG-4 Industry Forum (M4IF)
> >
> > While M4IF recommended that MPEG LA® take the steps as
> > described in this
> > release, all steps described herein are carried out outside and
> > independently of M4IF. M4IF encourages all and any steps
> > that will lead to
> > easy access to reasonable and non-discriminatory licenses
> for patents
> > essential to the MPEG-4 Standard.
> >
> > The M4IF was organized on May 29, 2024 as a not-for-profit
> > corporation "To
> > further the adoption and widespread use of the MPEG-4 Standard, by
> > establishing MPEG-4 as an accepted standard among application
> > developers,
> > service providers, content creators and end users." Based in
> > Switzerland,
> > M4IF is open to all parties that support this goal and pay
> the yearly
> > membership fee of (US) $3,000. M4IF carries on activities
> outside of
> > ISO/IEC's scope, such as:
> >
> > * Promoting the MPEG-4 Standard, and serving as a single point of
> > information on MPEG-4 technology, products and services;
> > * Initiating discussions leading to the potential establishment of
> > patent portfolios outside of M4IF in order to grant licenses to all
> > applicants throughout the world under reasonable terms and
> > conditions that
> > are demonstrably free of any unfair competition;
> > * Organization of MPEG-4 exhibitions and tutorials;
> > * Carrying out interoperability tests.
> >
> > Since its official establishment, over 100 companies have
> > joined the Forum.
> >
> >
> > MPEG LA, LLC
> >
> > MPEG LA* successfully pioneered one-stop technology standards
> > licensing,
> > starting with a portfolio of essential patents for the
> > international digital
> > video compression standard known as MPEG-2, which it began
> > licensing in
> > 1997. One-stop technology standards licensing enables widespread
> > technological implementation, interoperability and use of
> fundamental
> > broad-based technologies covered by many patents owned by
> > many different
> > patent holders. MPEG LA* provides users with fair, reasonable,
> > nondiscriminatory access to these essential patents on a
> > worldwide basis
> > under a single license. The MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License now has
> > approximately 350 licensees and includes almost 400 MPEG-2
> > essential patents
> > owned by 19 patent holders. As the legal and business
> > template for one-stop
> > technology standards licensing, MPEG LA* also provides an
> > innovative way to
> > achieve fair, reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to patent
> > rights for
> > other technology standards - the high-speed transfer digital
> > interconnect
> > standard known as IEEE 1394 and the terrestrial digital
> > television standard
> > used in Europe and Asia known as DVB-T. In addition, MPEG
> > LA® has been
> > asked to facilitate the development of joint licenses for
> > MPEG-4 and other
> > emerging technologies. The company is based in Denver, CO
> > and has offices
> > in Chevy Chase, MD (Washington DC metropolitan area), the
> greater San
> > Francisco area and London, England. For more information,
> > please refer to
> > <http://www.mpegla.com/>, <http://www.1394la.com/> and
> > <http://www.dvbla.com>.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > News mailing list
> > News lists.m4if.org
> > http://lists.m4if.org/mailman/listinfo/news
> >
>
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