Welcome to Sisvel VP9/AV1 blog
Greetings and welcome to the Sisvel VP9/AV1 blog. I’m Mattia Fogliacco, CEO of Sisvel Group.
As you may know, video codecs have progressed over the last few years on two tracks; standards-based, royalty-bearing codecs like MPEG-2, H.264, and HEVC, and open-source royalty-free codecs like Ogg Theora, VP6-9, and now AV1.
Sisvel VP9/AV1 patent pools
Recently Sisvel announced two patent pools on VP9 and AV1. We formed these pools because after performing extensive technical due diligence, both internally and through highly respected third parties, we believe that the VP9/AV1 codecs as promoted by Google and the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) make use of patents owned by companies participating in the pools. Recognizing that AOM and Google have been positioning VP9 and AV1 as royalty-free, open-source codecs for many years now, we created this blog for several reasons.
First, to keep interested parties aware of key information about the pools as it becomes available. During this summer, we will announce via this blog the availability of the essential patent list, and several new licensors who have added technology to the pools.
Second, since we recognize that the formation of these pools will be an emotionally charged issue for many technology pundits and users, we wanted to create a place to respond to criticism and complaints, and present our side of the story, which roughly is this.
Sisvel helps companies monetize their investments in R&D, often via patent pools. We’ve been in business since 1982, have been licensing technology for over 35 years, and have over 60 engineers, licensing, and legal professionals on staff.
We believe that patent pools simplify access to new technologies by enabling potential implementors to sign one agreement with one party at a reasonable cost to acquire all rights needed to build products using the covered technologies.
We believe that our patent pools have helped accelerate the deployment of the covered technologies for the benefit of the inventors, implementors, and end users. Certainly, in the video codec space, patent pools have clearly accelerated the deployment of video codecs like MPEG-2 and H.264.
We believe that AOM members have the complete right to form, in essence, a royalty-free patent pool of their own intellectual property. However, to the extent that AV1 (and VP9) make use of the IP owned by members of our pools, these members have the complete right to seek reasonable royalties from those who implement VP9 and AV1 in their products and services.
That’s it. This blog will be monitored, and we won’t publish any abusive messages. Otherwise, we’re committed to publishing questions and comments on both sides of these issues.