[M4IF News] M4Visual Patent Portfolio License Press Release

[Michelle Peters]

Larry Horn wanted to make sure that you received a copy of the attached press release issued today on Business Wire.
Thank you.
Michelle Peters
Assistant to the Vice President, Licensing
250 Steele Street Suite 300
Denver, Colorado 80206
303 331.1880
FAX 303 331.1879
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release CONTACT:
Lawrence Horn
MPEG LA, LLC
1.301.986.6660
1.301.986.8575 Fax
lhorn   mpegla.com
Statement Concerning MPEG-4 Visual Patent Portfolio License
(Denver, Colorado, US - 28 March 2024) - MPEG LA, LLC today issued the
following statement regarding the
status of the MPEG-4 Visual Patent Portfolio License:
On January 31, 2002, MPEG LA announced that it will offer fair, reasonable,
nondiscriminatory access to
patents (owned by 18 companies) that are essential to the MPEG-4 Visual
(Simple and Core) digital
compression standard under a single license to be known as the MPEG-4 Visual
Patent Portfolio License and
provided an initial overview of the proposed license terms. The actual
license agreement is still in
development, however, and all terms are subject to change.
MPEG LA is pleased by the intense interest in MPEG-4 Visual technology
demonstrated by the market in
response to the January 31 announcement. We have heard from and responded to
many people, and want to
thank all of them for taking the time to share their views with us. MPEG LA,
the MPEG-4 Visual essential
patent owners and prospective MPEG-4 Visual users have been the
beneficiaries of a healthy dialogue. This
first step in the process has provided a unique opportunity for the
marketplace to familiarize itself with the
proposed terms and provide feedback and for MPEG LA to clarify the proposed
terms and assure their
compatibility across various business models. Since details of the license
agreement are still in the process of
being worked out, these views are important and will be taken into
consideration. There are many different
views to be considered, however, and ultimately the marketplace will decide
the success of the licensing
program.
It is intended that reasonable royalties will be spread among industry
participants on a nondiscriminatory basis
across the entire product chain consistent with the expected flow of MPEG-4
video transactions, so that those
who can pay will and those who can't pay aren't expected to. For example,
the royalties proposed for the use of
MPEG-4 video data streaming and downloads to be paid by service providers
are tied to remuneration and
payable only when service providers or content providers are paid for
offering or providing MPEG-4 video.
And the application of this principle to various business models continues
to be studied.
MPEG LA facilitates the adoption of new technologies (e.g., MPEG-4 Video) in
the marketplace by making the
essential intellectual property rights owned by many patent owners available
on fair, reasonable,
nondiscriminatory terms under a single license. MPEG LA's business relies on
the broad acceptance of the
license across all market sectors. Therefore, MPEG LA is sensitive to the
need to structure a reasonable license
consistent with marketplace conditions. To that end, MPEG LA continues to
work with the patent owners to
assure that the license is responsive to reasonable concerns. MPEG LA will
meet with the patent holders again
in late April, and will provide further guidance to the marketplace as soon
as possible following that meeting.
Everyone is working with all speed, but because of the challenge posed by
the effort to produce a joint licensing
program requiring a consensus among at least 18 different patent owners and
the yet undetermined future
implementations and applications of the emerging MPEG-4 Visual technology,
it will take additional time to
complete this process.
Meanwhile, in its continuing effort to include as much essential MPEG-4
Visual (Simple and Core) intellectual
property as possible in a one-stop license for the convenience of the
marketplace, MPEG LA reiterates that any
party that believes it has essential patents (Sections 9, 9.1 and 9.2 and
Tables 9-1 and 9-2 of ISO\IEC 14496-2
Information Technology - Coding of Audio-Visual Objects - Part 2: Visual)
and wishes to join upon successful
evaluation, is invited to submit such patents to the independent Patent
Evaluator together with a statement
confirming its agreement with the objectives and intention to abide by terms
and procedures governing the
patent submission process, which 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.
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