Velos Media video codec patent challenge instituted

On December 4, 2024, two weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 9,955,171, owned by Velos Media, an NPE. The '171 patent is generally directed to the selection of a set of prediction modes for encoding and decoding video. The patent explains that conventional methods use only one set of prediction modes, and that by providing additional prediction sets with different directions, rather than a single prediction set, efficiency can be increased. The ‘171 patent is a listed patent in Velos’ global patent assets.

Unified is represented by Jon Bowser and Adam Erickson of Haynes and Boone, and by in-house counsel, Jessica L.A. Marks and Michelle Aspen, in this proceeding.

Intellectual Discovery video codec patent challenged

On November 22, 2024, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 9,432,675, owned by Intellectual Discovery, an NPE. The ’675 Patent relates to a decoding method that uses most-probable-candidate modes for performing intraprediction.

Unified is represented by Rothwell Figg and by in-house counsel, Jessica L.A. Marks and Michelle Aspen, in this proceeding.

"Video Streaming Royalty Stack Best Left to Devices," say Economist

The Brattle Group determined in a recently released report the aggregate value of video streaming technologies is already taken into account through existing device based royalty rates. Brattle considered various video codecs, streaming protocols, content delivery networks, and media players while excluding other technologies like wireless and Internet protocols.

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The report follows the Club Goods economic theory, to determine viewers should pay a fixed fee irrespective of how much content is consumed. The value allocable to each patent holder should consider the substitutability of their patents and the component technology they cover.

Brattle determines a device-based royalty market has generated competition amongst various codecs, thus ensuring that innovation in this space remains vibrant and healthy while minimizing issues such as royalty stacking and double counting. Otherwise, they conclude there will be significant issues with a streaming-based royalty given so many different subscription models including ad based, annual, one-off live events, etc.  

The report was prepared for Unified Patents and is exclusively available to Unified Patents Video Codec Zone members. To join the Video Codec Zone or for more information on the Brattle report, please contact info@unifiedpatents.com.

Velos/Avanci video codec patent found invalid

On January 4, 2024, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) entered a final rejection of the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 10,390,013, owned by Velos Media, an NPE. The '013 patent generally relates to encoding syntax elements that indicate tile information into a slice header. Velos Media patents have been identified as part of the Avanci Video patent pool, and Avanci asserts its pool covers AV1, H.265 (HEVC), H.266 (VVC), MPEG-DASH, and VP9 technologies.

Unified was represented by in-house counsel Jessica L.A. Marks and Michelle Aspen.

To view the reexamination request, visit Unified’s Portal: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/exparte/90015239.

Ideahub HEVC patent held invalid

On February 5, 2024, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a final written decision in Unified Patents, LLC v. Ideahub Inc. holding all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 11,122,274 unpatentable. The '274 patent generally relates to a video compression method for improving compression efficiency in directional intra-prediction. The patent has been designated essential to the Access Advance patent pool and this filing is part of Unified’s continued efforts in the SEP Video Codec Zone.

View district court litigation by Ideahub. To read the petition and view the case record, see Unified's Portal.  Unified is represented by Raghav Bajaj and David McCombs of Hayes Boone, and by in-house counsel Roshan Mansinghani and Michelle Aspen.