Licensing (Patents, Royalties, …) News

Roku acquires Quibi’s global content distribution rights
Jan 8, 2021 – The Roku Channel (NASDAQ: ROKU) will become the exclusive place to stream more than 75 premium shows and documentaries that Quibi created in conjunction with Hollywood’s leading studios and production companies.
News categories: Roku, Rob Holmes, Digital TV, Licensing, MandA, OTT, Worldwide

Freeview and Vestel sign new 5-year partnership
Nov 10, 2020 – Freeview UK has renewed its contract with Vestel for a further five years. The deal means that the Freeview Play service will be not just present, but have prominence on all new Vestel manufactured TV sets.
News categories: Freeview, Vestel, Simon Hunt, Barış Altınkaya, Digital TV, HbbTV, Licensing, Smart TV, Terrestrial, UK

Xperi and Comcast agree patent licensing deal
Nov 9, 2020 – Xperi (NASDAQ: XPER) and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) have announced that they have entered into a 15-year patent license agreement. The agreement resolves all of the outstanding litigation between the companies.
News categories: Xperi Holding, Comcast, Samir Armaly, Peter Kiriacoulacos, Digital TV, Licensing, Patent, Set Top Box, USA

HEVC Advance releases draft VVC Licensing Program Overview
Aug 20, 2020 – HEVC Advance has announced the release of a draft VVC Licensing Program Overview. The Licensing Program, covering both VVC and HEVC, would establish the Advance Licensing Platform for Video Codecs.
News categories: HEVC Advance, Peter Moller, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Licensing, Media Player, Patent, Worldwide

Channel Master selects TiVo DVR and discovery technology for OTA customers
Aug 19, 2020 – Channel Master has announced that it has entered into an exclusive agreement to offer TiVo DVR technology for OTA antenna users. First up for the partnership, Channel Master will launch a 500GB TiVo EDGE DVR later this summer.
News categories: Channel Master, TiVo, Mike Lynch, Matt Milne, Digital TV, DVR, Licensing, Middleware, Terrestrial, USA

HEVC patent infringement suits brought against Vestel and Xiaomi
Aug 17, 2020 – Certain patent owners in the HEVC Advance HEVC/H.265 Patent Pool have filed separate proceedings against Vestel and Xiaomi in Germany for infringing patents essential to the HEVC/H.265 video coding standard.
News categories: HEVC Advance, Digital TV, Germany, Licensing, Patent

Fraunhofer IIS licenses MPEG-H Audio patents to Samsung
Jul 29, 2020 – Fraunhofer IIS has licensed its MPEG-H Audio patents to Samsung, allowing Samsung to manufacture products that feature MPEG-H Audio. MPEG-H Audio is specified in TV broadcast standards such as ATSC 3.0 and DVB as well as mobile standard 3GPP.
News categories: Fraunhofer IIS, Samsung, Stefan Geyersberger, Digital TV, Licensing, Patent, Worldwide

MC-IF initiates moves to create a VVC patent pool
Jul 22, 2020 – The MC-IF is inviting those holding patents (or patent applications) potentially essential to the Versatile Video Codec (VVC) standard to participate in a first meeting to foster the formation of a patent pool.
News categories: MC-IF, Stephan Wenger, Jud Cary, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Licensing, Media Player, Patent, Worldwide

HEVC Advance royalty rates to remain at current levels
Jul 1, 2020 – HEVC Advance has announced that the current royalty rates offered by its HEVC/H.265 Pool License will remain unchanged for its next five-year term, beginning January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2025.
News categories: HEVC Advance, Peter Moller, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Licensing, Media Player, Patent, Worldwide