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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Last week, Sisvel founder Roberto Dini celebrated his 80^th birthday. We availed of the occasion to pay special tribute to an extraordinary man. When Mr Dini established the firm, the US Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit had not yet commenced operations; while other seminal events in the history of IP monetisation – such as Marshall Phelps’ appointment as head of IP at IBM, the publication of Rembrandts in the Attic and the creation of Intellectual Ventures – were still years away from happening. Mr Dini was far ahead of his time. He realised that a business built on strong patents not only was viable but could also be an effective way to help innovators continue innovating. In 1982, in Italy, such vision was remarkable.

Since then, Mr Dini has chalked up a litany of achievements. Notable among them are the successes of the Sisvel MPEG Audio Programme and the DVB-T2 pool, his pioneering use of the EU IP Enforcement Directive to bring serial infringers to the negotiating table and his establishment of Sisvel Technology; but there are many more.

Sisvel has returned billions of dollars’ worth of royalties to its licensor partners over the last 43 years. Much of that capital has found its way back into R&D, thus funding further innovation. Even now, Mr Dini continues to drive Sisvel’s business forward as it diversifies, grows and adapts to the challenges of today’s technology markets.

Elsewhere, there was news that Access Advance is seeking patent owner approval to create a merged HEVC/VVC pool in the wake of its acquisition of Via Licensing’s video programmes – a transaction Via licensors were not informed about in advance; and a closely watched dispute in which NPE Onesta was seeking to enforce US patents against BMW in Germany came to an end. Meanwhile, some have accused the USPTO of protectionism following the publication of a memorandum stating that domestic facilities and investments, as well as small business status, will now be considered in decisions on whether to institute IPR and post-grant review proceedings.

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

Following its acquisition of Via LA’s video programmes, Access Advance is seeking approval from patent owners to create a merged HEVC/VVC pool offering. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Avanci has appointed longtime Via LA executive Jane Bu as senior vice president of licensing. Read more (Avanci press release)

Chinese smartphone maker Honor has taken a licence to Via LA’s AAC patent pool. Read more (Via LA press release)

Legal

Onesta has settled with Qualcomm to end the NPE’s long-arm US case filed against BMW in Germany. Read more (ip fray). 🔒 See also Bardehle Pagenberg press release

Asus has suffered another defeat at the Munich Regional Court, this time in a 5G-related case against OPPO. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

Huawei has brought a new UPC case against Meta over video-related patents. Read more (ip fray)

Both the UPC Mannheim local division and the England and Wales High Court have issued new orders in the Amazon v InterDigital dispute. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

The CAFC appears hesitant to resurrect an invalidated 5G SEP that had been asserted against Samsung. Read more (Law360)🔒

Policy & Opinion

A new USPTO memorandum states that domestic facilities and investments, as well as small business status, will now be considered in IPR and post-grant review institution decisions. Read more (USPTO Memorandum). See also Baker Hostetler JD Supra and PatentlyO

Brazil’s antitrust regulator has requested detailed information from Ericsson and Motorola in an active probe related to a now-settled 5G SEP dispute. Read more (MLex) 🔒

If India wants to be a leader in 6G, its SEP policy must be pro-innovation, pro-patent and pro-licensor. Read more (Jim Harlan, LinkedIn)

Although the UPC may have jurisdiction to adjudicate infringement across several territories, the effectiveness of a decision will depend on the enforcement framework of the state in which execution is sought. Read more (Matthieu Dhenne, Kluwer Patent Blog)

With Senator Thom Tillis and Representative Darryl Issa set to retire, the US Congress will be left with few lawmakers with an active interest in IP policy issues. Read more (MLex) 🔒

Strategy & Analysis

Sisvel has paid tribute to founder Roberto Dini, an IP value creation pioneer who was well ahead of his time, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Read more (Sisvel Insights)

At the Fourth IP Forefront ICT Forum in Shenzhen, Chinese patent leaders stressed the need for greater transparency around connectivity SEPs and deal terms. Read more (Sisvel Insights)

Ericsson is a long-time leader in video codec developments and licensing is crucial to continued investment in this area. Read more (Thomas Choi and Rickard Sjöberg, Ericsson Patents and Licensing)