Welcome to the latest edition of the Sisvel Insights weekly round-up, aggregating news stories, analyses and data points affecting the SEP world that have caught our eye over the past seven days.

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Sisvel has announced the creation of a new fund that will enable SMEs to take their first steps into commercialising IoT products while being IP compliant.

Under the initiative, SMEs taking a Sisvel Cellular IoT licence will pay no royalties on their first 2,000 units sold during the initial two years of the licence. Instead, Sisvel will pay the relevant royalties to the patent owners. The offer is available to SMEs on a first come, first served basis.

Taking advantage of the fund will allow SMEs to focus on what matters most: creating products, testing customer demand and refining their offerings – all in the knowledge that they are meeting a large part of their IP obligations.

This is just the latest Sisvel move designed for SMEs working in IoT verticals. It comes on the back of a major educational campaign to explain the importance of patent licensing; the offer of royalty rates that encourage the adoption of LTE-M and NB-IoT technology; deals with module makers to create frictionless licensing solutions; and, most recently, a WIPO-organised pledge to resolve licensing impasses involving Sisvel-owned IoT SEPs through mediation.

Elsewhere in the market, Access Advance acquired the HEVC/VVC programme currently administered by Via Licensing, while Via President Heath Hoglund announced his decision to stand down. Among the major legal developments was a much-anticipated ruling from the English High Court which saw Justice Mellor issue an interim licence declaration in favour of Acer, Asus and Hisense in a case brought against Nokia.

Please note that the inclusion of a piece in the list below does not signify agreement with what is stated in the linked article – just that we believe it is of interest and worth flagging.

Market

Sisvel haslaunched a fund to help SMEs become licensed to its Cellular IoT pool at low or no cost. Read more (Sisvel Newsroom). See also IAM🔒

Access Advance has acquired the right to operate the HEVC and VVC programme previously run by Via LA. Read more (Access Advance)

Heath Hoglund has stepped down as Via LA president; Dolby executive Kevin Mack has been appointed to lead the organisation. Read more (Heath Hoglund LinkedIn). See also Via LA

Sisvel Tech video compression experts have spent nearly a year analysing the upcoming AV2 codec and working with patent owners to identify relevant IP. Read more (Sisvel Insights)

Legal

The English High Court has issued an interim licence declaration against Nokia in a suit brought by Acer, Asus and Hisense. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Ericsson has expanded its litigation campaign against Transsion to include three more jurisdictions: Morocco, Indonesia and Colombia. Read more (Robert Earle LinkedIn)

Hisense took a licence to the HEVC Advance patent pool just hours after pool members JVC and NEC secured preliminary injunctions against the Chinese company in Brazil. Read more (ip fray)

Huawei has filed suit against Roku at the UPC local division in Mannheim. Read more (PRIP Research)

Oppo has asserted a VVC SEP against Asus at the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court. Read more (IAM) 🔒

A Chinese court is expected to issue a FRAND determination in the ZTE-Samsung SEP dispute, a court in London heard. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

Policy & Opinion

The UPC should continue to follow the German courts’ approach of deferring to the market to set FRAND rates, as it is the most sensible and sustainable one to take. Read more (IAM) 🔒

The UK government has announced plans to remove curbs on litigation funding that were imposed by a Supreme Court ruling in 2023. Read more (Financial Times) 🔒

Strategy & Analysis

We recounted the biggest SEP market stories of the year as chosen by readers of this weekly newsletter. Read more (Sisvel Insights)

Tightened prosecution standards and an initiative promoting mediation were among the key Chinese policy developments in the second half of 2025. Read more (IAM) 🔒