DENVER—MPEG LA announced recently that a group of 25 companies have agreed on HEVC license terms expected to be issued as part of an HEVC Patent Portfolio License in early 2014. Final agreements are yet to be concluded.
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC, also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2) is a standard designed to improve video coding efficiency for the benefit of Internet and mobile service providers and consumers with increased speed and capacity. HEVC is also expected to deliver next generation higher resolution HDTV video displays for 4K and 8K Ultra High Definition TV.
“As contemplated, the HEVC license will utilize a modern streamlined pool licensing approach with simple easy-to-understand terms making the technology readily accessible to the largest possible market in the shortest possible time,” said Larry Horn, MPEG LA president and CEO. “MPEG LA salutes the cooperation of patent owners who have worked hard to reach common ground in making a joint patent license available for the convenience of HEVC adopters. As a result of their efforts, consumers benefiting from a marketplace of competitive technology choices will be the clear winners.”
As work continues on evaluating patents for inclusion into the HEVC format and concluding terms in final agreements, the license is currently supported by 25 prospective HEVC patent holders including the following:
Apple Inc.
British Broadcasting Corp.
Cisco Technology, Inc.
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute of Korea
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
Hitachi Maxell, Ltd.
Humax Co. Ltd.
JVC Kenwood Corp.
KT Corp.
LG Electronics Inc.
M&K Holdings Inc.
NEC Corporation
Nippon Hoso Kyokai
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.
NTT Docomo Inc.
Orange SA
Siemens AG
SK Telecom
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
Thomson Licensing
Vidyo Inc.
Additional patent holders who are participating in the facilitation process also may be included.
