Avanci Broadcast adds ETRI, KPN, NEC and NERC-DTV as Licensors

One-stop Licensing Platform Expands to Over 80% of Essential Patent Families for the ATSC 3.0 Broadcasting Standard

Avanci Broadcast, the one-stop licensing platform for ATSC 3.0 launched in March 2023, today announced the addition of four new licensors, based in China, Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea.

The many talented researchers and inventors at ETRI, KPN, NEC and NERC-DTV have enabled those organizations to be significant contributors to the ATSC 3.0 / NextGenTV standard. Alongside the initial Avanci Broadcast licensors, they are collectively responsible for more than 80% of all families containing patents declared essential for ATSC 3.0.

Avanci Broadcast is an independent intermediary which streamlines the licensing process, offering makers of products such as TVs and set-top boxes a single agreement covering the ATSC 3.0 standard essential patents (SEPs) of all its licensors, avoiding the need to negotiate individual bi-lateral agreements with each.

Existing Avanci Broadcast licensees including LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp and Sony are now also licensed to ATSC 3.0 SEPs of these new licensors at no additional cost, increasing the value of their license. For new licensees, Avanci Broadcast is currently offering terms for early adopters.

“We believe that our market-based solution supports the adoption and growth of NextGenTV by removing uncertainty around licensing,” said Ilkka Rahnasto, Senior Vice President at Avanci Broadcast. “We appreciate the trust and support of our newest licensors, as well as our existing partners.”

Avanci welcomes Samsung Electronics

Leading global innovator joins several Avanci licensing programs, increasing value for licensees

Avanci, a leader in simplifying the sharing of advanced technologies, today announced that Samsung Electronics has become a licensor for several of its licensing programs, including Avanci Vehicle 4G, Avanci Aftermarket and Avanci Broadcast.

Avanci has transformed how companies share technology, enabling product makers to access patented technology from many companies and research institutes in a single transaction at fixed rates, paid once for the product’s lifetime. The Avanci model efficiently helps businesses unlock the potential of technologies created by thousands of inventors around the globe to create innovative new products for their customers.

Existing licensees of Avanci Vehicle 4G, spanning more than 80 auto brands, are now also licensed to the 4/3/2G standard essential patents (SEPs) of Samsung Electronics for their connected vehicles, extending the value of their license. Similarly, Avanci Aftermarket licensees are covered for their aftermarket vehicle products.

Avanci also recently launched Avanci Broadcast, a one-stop licensing platform for the ATSC 3.0 television standard. Samsung Electronics was one of the largest contributors to the development of that standard and is among the initial licensors for the platform, which collectively represent more than 70% of all patent families containing patents declared essential for the ATSC 3.0 standard.  Samsung Electronics is also the world’s largest manufacturer of televisions and is one of the initial licensees for Avanci Broadcast, which collectively have been responsible for the vast majority of ATSC 3.0 televisions sold to date. “We are delighted to welcome Samsung Electronics, a global leader in innovation and a long-term contributor to the development of standardized technologies, as an Avanci licensor,” said Kasim Alfalahi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Avanci. “This announcement reinforces the broad industry enthusiasm for the Avanci model and adds value for existing and future licensees at no additional cost to them. We look forward to working with Samsung Electronics and our other partners on efficient licensing solutions for today and in the future.”

Avanci Broadcast Launched as One-Stop Licensing Platform for ATSC 3.0 Standard

New Platform Includes More than 70% of ATSC 3.0 Essential Patent Families and Licensees Responsible for Vast Majority of ATSC 3.0 Televisions Sold to Date

DALLAS, Texas, March 7, 2023 – Avanci, a leader in simplifying the sharing of advanced technologies, has launched Avanci Broadcast, a patent licensing platform for the ATSC 3.0 broadcasting standard.

The Avanci Broadcast platform offers a simple and transparent pricing model for manufacturers of products such as TVs and set-top boxes that implement the standard, to streamline the process of licensing ATSC 3.0 essential technologies.

The new platform licenses the ATSC 3.0 essential patents of ETRI, LG Electronics, ONE Media, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Sharp and Sun Patent Trust, which collectively represent more than 70% of all patent families containing ATSC 3.0 declared essential patents, and the Avanci Broadcast platform is expected to grow with the addition of several more licensors in the coming months.

Initial licensees include LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp and Sony, collectively responsible for the vast majority of ATSC 3.0 televisions sold to date.

Developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, the ATSC 3.0 standard has been adopted for over-the-air TV broadcasts in countries including the United States and South Korea. Also known as NextGen TV, ATSC 3.0 enables 4K / UHD broadcast with higher frame rates, better color and sound, and other technical improvements over the previous standard. It also works hand-in-hand with content delivered over the internet for services such as customized advertising, on-demand and premium content, and interactivity.

Kasim Alfalahi, founder and CEO of Avanci, said: “We are delighted to launch a licensing platform for standardized technologies beyond cellular communications. With our experience in creating the one-stop marketplace for IoT and automotive licensing, we are well positioned to find solutions for other industries. We are excited to build on the trust we have with licensors and licensees to help bring simpler, more efficient approaches to make technology sharing easier in new markets.”

Ilkka Rahnasto, Senior Vice President at Avanci Broadcast, added: “We are proud to launch our new platform with several market leading companies amongst the first participants. We welcome the opportunity to engage with other ATSC 3.0 SEP owners and product makers to outline the benefits of joining Avanci Broadcast, including the advantages for licensees and licensors of being amongst the first to join.”

Fresh thinking on the future of intellectual property

Every year, we see the pace of technological innovation increase. Whether in mobile communications, automotive, artificial intelligence, blockchain or pharmaceuticals, there seems no end to the opportunities which technology will bring.

As industries converge, there remain some imperatives to ensure that innovation can continue. Those who create products and services need access to the intellectual property – mostly patents – of those who have built the technologies, while those who have invented those technologies need a fair return on their investment in innovation, to ensure that the creative cycle can continue.

At Marconi, we work where these two worlds converge, at the forefront of technological innovation. As an expert organization, trusted by patent owners and product creators alike, we believe there are topics that all those involved in the business of innovation need to consider. Over the coming months, we’ll be writing on topics at the intersection of intellectual property and business; offering our thoughts on the future of the sharing of technologies.

But first, I wanted to tell you a little bit about Marconi. In 2017, we recognized the need for a new approach to how technologies were shared. In the past, those who created the technologies and those who implemented them would negotiate individual patent licenses, involving many lengthy negotiations and high costs.

As we move to a world where evermore companies are creating products and services; a new approach is needed, and we established Marconi to transform patent licensing across different technologies and products. We now have four different companies, united by that shared vision:

Avanci is focused on licensing cellular standard essential patents in the Internet of Things and automotive markets, offering a one-stop license at a fixed price to the patents of 39 licensors. Fifteen automotive brands are already under license, with more than 16 million licensed connected vehicles on the world’s roads. Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum awarded Avanci among its Technology Pioneers for 2020, recognizing its work in accelerating innovation for the Internet of Things.

Velos Media licenses essential patents for the HEVC video codec standard, from six patent owners responsible for many of the most significant HEVC innovations. Velos Media has around 40 licensees, covering a significant share of the markets for HEVC capable set-top boxes and televisions, as well as other categories of HEVC capable products.

Teletry is focused on licensing The BlackBerry patent portfolio, one of the most valuable in the wireless telecommunications industry, spanning more than 38,000 patents and patent applications around the world. Teletry unlocks opportunities and creates value for BlackBerry and smartphone companies.

Innovius creates new ways to share patented inventions. We develop solutions that provide value for both product innovators and patent owners, bringing together portfolios for licensing as well as negotiating and administering license agreements. Our goal is to simplify licensing for patent owners and enable manufacturers to offer their products with confidence and minimal disruption.

Marconi supports all of these companies with a team of world class licensing experts. Our leaders include the former heads of intellectual property at companies such as Ericsson, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. Eleven of our people were recognized amongst this year’s IAM Strategy 300, which identifies the individuals who are leading the way in the development and implementation of strategies that maximise the value of IP portfolios.

The topics we will write about reflect the diversity of innovation that has enabled this new approach to sharing IP. I do hope you will find them interesting, perhaps thought provoking, but above all, useful. Stay tuned!